La Dolce Vita
by Seniya
Summary: The guardians who couldn't fight properly and who were still not ready to defeat the tyrant king, were still not very popular among the rebels. K is for Kin. A darker re-telling of the WITCH story. AU.
1. Prologue

La Dolce Vita

By Seniya

Prologue

We have, I fear, confused power with greatness.

Stewart Udall

"My Lord,"

One breath; one prolonged, exaggerated wetting of the upper lip, and then: "Your son. The P-Prince Deimos..." A stutter and then a gasp, the messenger wished to stop. Only a fool would continue on. Only a fool would have been called upon to deliver such news to the King in the first place and obviously, fear had robbed this fool of his ability to articulate.

He thought of his mother.

Sweat poured along his face, yet this did nothing to cool his burning limbs. "He...He's passed away."

He considered an apology. But in the overwhelming silence of the room, he knew that it will be inadequate. Who was he to offer condolences to the King?

No breeze cooled this night. The atmosphere was thick and heavy. The heavens too seemed to be holding their breath. Two bright milky orbs stared out of the charcoal sky, meeting the young messenger's gaze as he stood trembling. Understanding passed between him and the Gods.

They would both wait.

...

"What of the physician?" Ares' voice did not break with grief. His breathing was not shallow or short. Rather, when he spoke it was with an air of underlying rage, just crackling beneath the surface of his impassive veneer.

"He remains in the Prince's chamber, Lord." The reply came hastily.

"Send word for him to be executed on the morrow." Ares turned away. The movement was not graceful however; there was a distinct favouring of his left side and he dragged his feet when he walked, making his legs seem heavy and old. Years of war and disease had left their mark.

"And Phobos?"

"The young Prince has been quarantined to his room since his brother took ill."

"Send word to him of his brother's passing." He stopped at the massive window. One of his hands caressed the curved limestone while he deliberated. His body eclipsed the milky light of the twin moons, confining the shine to his golden blonde hair. "Let the alchemist Vladimir know that I wish to see him."

"Yes...Yes my Lord."

Without another second's hesitation, the messenger scampered away. He broke into a full run once he was in the corridors and stopped only when he was inside of the kitchens.

...

"Your brother is dead."

It is his nurse who brought the news. The woman, as wide as she was tall, crowded his doorway and his senses with her repugnant stench. "Do you understand?" She spoke slower now, more deliberately, grinning widely all the while. "He is dead. His blood killed him. Your brother, the next king of Meridian."

He understood, although he didn't speak. His chest burned, not with sadness but with annoyance. He hated this blasted woman. Phobos clutched his book closer to his chest and stared at her greasy face. Even in the darkness, her bliss was obvious.

"The Prince Deimos was the perfect son. Your father's favourite. Your mother's pet. But that is not surprising. Who would not choose such a lively boy over a sickly mute?" She edged closer and he straightened his back. He is used to her malice; her cruel words no longer hurt him. He had told himself that she was far more pathetic than he, for what kind of woman attacked a child?

"Don't you have anything to say?"

_Go. Go to Hades and burn._

"Now that your brother is dead, you are the heir to the throne. You father will no longer allow you to spend your days buried in books. Of course, that is unless your mother does not give birth to another son." She laughed. "Even a babe would be a better choice than you."

_Let the demons there pluck your eyes from your skull and devour your rotten soul._

"Seven years I've watched you. I've seen you become more disgusting every year. You won't live to adulthood. Not if your brother could not..."

He felt his hands move long after he saw her fall, clutching her bleeding face. His book spiralled through the air, finally falling with a loud _thump_ near the open door. His breaths came quickly, he swallowed but his mouth was still dry. She moved to her feet, looking at him with a bemused expression.

"Disgusting wretch," And then she left.

...

It has been three moonrises since the death of Deimos. The boy is cremated and his ashes confiscated by the alchemist Vladimir, who uses them in a thick brew which is later fed to the boy's surviving male relatives. A temporary remedy for the illness that plagues them both.

...

The nurse is right, after Deimos' death there are changes in Phobos' life. He had always been ignored by his father, who, like countless others, preferred to spend his time in the presence of the lively Deimos. Sometimes, well, actually quite a great deal more than just sometimes (but he would never admit to it), Phobos would spy on the pair as the galloped across the wide fields behind the castle, moving towards yet another hunt. Other times he would listen with magnificently concealed annoyance while the serving wenches and laundresses bustled about around his chamber, reciting humorous tales about his brother.

Truly, it was no surprise that he had hated the fool by the time he was six.

However, after his brother's unfortunate demise, things did change. His father would come to visit more than once a month, even bringing tokens and gifts to share with his son. Those servants, who had always ignored him before, now looked at him with interest. Would he survive to adulthood? Could this small, sickly mute be the next king of Meridian?

...

Lady Aphrodite possessed a beauty that was legendary. It was said that she possessed skin as fair as porcelain and hair as red as blood. So powerful were these myths, so inescapable were these legends that in her youth many a man had journeyed for months to arrive at her castle door, begging her father for her hand in marriage.

Her father persisted for he was a stubborn man, and his daughter's beauty was a matter of great pride for both him and his nation. He held firm, that is, until his beloved daughter eloped.

It caused quite the scandal at the time. Not only had she abandoned both family and country, she had left it for a man who many considered a devil. In fact, for the first few weeks following her departure, many wondered if she had been kidnapped. Those rumours escalated when Aphrodite's father declared war on his son-in-law, the satanic Ares.

Her father lost the battle, of course, and his country never truly recovered. The only reason that he or his family survived the entire ordeal was apparently because of a request made by his estranged daughter.

In the years that followed, the legends of Aphrodite receded. She bore Ares two sons, one was dead before manhood and the second was a mute. Clearly, beauty or no, she was useless as a wife.

Phobos had always thought his mother perfect. Unlike his father, she would always pay special attention to him, bringing him books, toys and Phobos' very favourite: new stories.

...

"Have you ever heard of the guardians of the veil?" Aphrodite's stomach protruded obscenely from beneath her thick blue gown. She was stunning still, her entire body seemed to radiate with happiness and excitement. As she sat beside him on his massive canopy bed, Phobos attempted to withhold the feeling of resentment towards his unborn sibling.

"I have a feeling that you have, with all those books that you've read."

He had. He knew a great deal about the guardians. They were the so-called saviours of Meridian, they protected Meridian from the evils on the other side of the veil. They had also been dead for over a century.

"When I was a little girl, my mother would tell me all about the guardians. You see, she had met one of them. A beautiful, exotic woman, with long raven hair, who wielded a sword with a special stone in the hilt."

Yes, he knew that too. The Blade of Kandrakar. It had disappeared when the guardians had, so he doubted that it was anything more than a legend. He didn't interrupt his mother however, because he liked the feeling of her arm about his shoulder, he enjoyed the sound of her voice.

"Now, listen to me Phobos. Listen and understand." Her voice had taken a hard, desperate edge and the tightness of her grip had suddenly intensified. "This stone gives whoever controls it great power. But also, it makes this person invincible...immortal."

_Immortal_. Even then, at seven years old, he could understand the fear of death.

"It is called the Heart of Kandrakar, and it obeys only its keeper. My son, you will be King. There is no doubt in my mind of that." She touched her stomach briefly, "it's a girl." Phobos stared. "I will not be here for much longer. You father will...He will be most upset with me. He will choose another wife once he discovers."

"But you," she caressed his face, "you will be a great king. You will be kind and gentle. You will be so wise and strong and you will live forever my son, for you will have the power of the heart. This is what I want for you. Always remember Phobos, that you had a mother who loved you more than anything..."

"My Lady, leave us." Ares invaded the space and immediately the intimacy evacuated. "I wish to speak with my Prince."

"Of course my Lord." She stood with her eyes lowered and curtsied briefly before briskly walking out of the door.

"I," it took a while for his father to begin, and when he did, his voice was strained and loud. "I brought you a trinket. It is...very important to me. I want you to take very good care of it. It is yours now."

He presented an old gold star, it was heavy and smelt of oil, as Phobos discovered once he held it. "I've had it ever since I was a boy. It's useless, but I've always thought that I brought me luck."

Phobos didn't reply and his father seemed uncomfortable.

"I...I have heard however, that it was once used to create temporary rips in the veil. Obviously, back when it was not so dangerous to do so."

Phobos stared at the object in his hand. His. It belonged to him because his father had deemed him worthy. Inside, his heart burned with pride, and he felt a small smile touch his lips.

"I had hoped Phobos. That you might join me tonight...at my table for the evening meal."

...

It had been raining that night. Phobos had always hated the lightning and thunder, which would echo dreadfully throughout the abandoned corridors of the palace. But that night there was something else: screams. Human screams.

It wasn't curiosity that drove him from his bed. Rather it was that he recognized the voice, even twisted by agony and smothered by thunder. He knew that it was his mother.

She had told him that she would not be with him for much longer. He recalled her warning as he removed his new gold star from underneath his pillow and clutched it to his chest. It made him feel braver somehow, as though it dulled the sound of the raging storm outside.

He followed that same eerie, magnetic sound through the dimly lit corridors, winding his way through the castle, a seemingly endless journey, promptly halting once he came up the burly form of Kya, his nurse.

She was speaking in rapid, harsh tones to another—his father—Phobos took special care to hide himself in the shadows.

"My Lady and her babe are both well, my King."

"The babe." He pried.

"A girl, my lord. She shows no sign of the bleeding as the others did..."

Phobos listened to the stream of blasphemies that followed as well as the strict order that he barked, "dispose of them. Both of them."

"Yes, my Lord."

The pair separated.

Phobos remained rooted to his spot.

There was no doubt in his mind as to what "disposing of them" could mean. He had been alive long enough –to see, to hear—to know, exactly what his father was capable of. A waterfall of ice cold terror cascaded along his spine, pooling at his knees. He swallowed.

Trembling, he thought of his mother. His beautiful, fragile mother—her head rotting on a spike, her body burnt beyond recognition—

In these dreams the newborn was never included.

He needed to save her.

...

Outside the storm grew steadily more violent. The winds cursed the mountains that impeded them, the sky opened up to trample and tear at the arrogant earth. Chaos reigned supreme.

Aphrodite had been anticipating this moment since she had discovered that she was with child. In those eight months she had created thousands of plans and plots—settling finally on one hastily constructed idea: bribery.

"Kya," she whispered, her voice mangled by fright. "Do not forget the plan—hide the babe in the—"

"I have not forgotten, my Lady." The nurse muttered impatiently, "do you remember my payment?"

"You shall have it once Eris is safe." She tucked the squirming infant into another thick layer of blankets, protection that she couldn't help believe that her daughter would need, and then bent to whisper promises into the child's ear. "I shall come as soon as it is safe...you mustn't cry...be brave for mother..."

Aphrodite held her child tightly in her arms, praying to the Gods that this would not be the last time she was able to do so, "please Kya, remember what we have talked about...ensure...Phobos," her luminous green eyes rested on the small figure standing between the doorposts, "My son, you should be in bed, it is late."

"Mother," both ladies froze at the sound. Never in his life had he uttered a sound before this, "I can help."

"Phobos."

But before she could protest, he rushed up to her side and forced the weighty, golden star into her palm. "Father gave it to me. It can take you away from here...all of you." He didn't dare mention that what he wanted more than anything was for his mother to discard the small, misshapen babe and take him with her in its place.

"Phobos," she breathed; her voice wild with emotion. "You are so brave." She touched his cheek, "but this is only a story...this star...it won't save us..."

"Yes!" He snatched it away from her, "watch." And he sliced at the air before him with the star in hand, floundering only slightly when he saw that it remained the way it was.

"But Father..."

"Foolish child, your father is a liar and a thief..." Kya grabbed the star now, turning it over several times in her rough palm, staring at it with ill concealed greed. "This is a trinket, nothing more."

"It is mine!" He screamed, unbelievably hurt by the lies and the uncontrollable feeling of failure that consumed him. He reached wildly for the star; Kya pushed him away, laughing as she did so.

The babe began to fuss because of the noise, and Aphrodite, flustered, tired and sick, took the ornament away from the both of them. "Be quiet!" She hissed, and then, it happened.

It was nothing short of a miracle. The wild movement of the Queen's hand, drawing backwards, the star trapped within her fingers, left a tangible mark on the space, yes the _space_, surrounding the three.

Suddenly, the room ceased to exist; there was a bright flash of blue light that seemed to swallow everything, and then, when it looked as though it had succeeded, when there was only a single strip of blue light lift between the four of them, the nurse began to move.

"Give me the child." She trembled as she walked; her arms outstretched, ready to fulfil her end of the bargain, after all, she had already spent the coins promised to her by the Queen.

"No...Kya..."

"My Queen, we do not know where this portal leads..."

"We do!" Phobos argued, "It leads to Earth..."

"Earth!" Kya hissed, "That hell! It's filled with demons and monsters!"

"I cannot think it any worse than here," Face set, Aphrodite held her squirming child tighter in her arms. "Come Phobos..."

His heart leapt, he bounded forward—but was stopped mid-step by the voice of an intruder; his body was blurred by the intense light coming from the rip, but his voice left no questions on his identity. _No_. "What is this?"

"Ares..."

"Treasonous lechers! You know not who you..."

But it was too late for his rants, for in a single instant, realizing that her coins and now her life were both in imminent danger, Kya grabbed both the babe and the star from a startled Aphrodite's arms and ran through the portal.

It disappeared in the next instant.

"My baby!" She turned on her husband next. "Do you see what you have done? Are you such a monster that you would have your own child suffer!"

"I wanted her dead, and death, Wife, is not such a cruel punishment as the one you have just offered her!"

She fell to her knees sobbing. She had already been weak from childbirth; weaker now from enduring all that had just unfolded. "I will not beg for mercy!"

"You will not have it!" He spat. "Phobos," he turned on his son, "return to your rooms. I will deal with you later."

"You will not hurt my mother!" He was by her side in a second, clutching her shivering form to his smaller one, he buried his face in her bright crimson hair. Never had he seen hair so red.

It was the last thing he would see, as his father advanced upon the pair and tossed him aside. His head collided with the ancient stone wall, and his mother's screams lulled him into a slumber in the same way that they had forced him awake.

When he did come to, she was gone.

...

Phobos would live to adulthood, to everyone's surprise. And when his father passed, finally succumbing to the disease that had claimed the life of his firstborn son and that he had spent the majority of his adult life attempting to conquer, just a week before his son's eighteenth birthday; there was not a single person in the world of Metamoor, who did not wonder if Prince Phobos would be quite as demented as his father was.

He could not, one young man was heard to remark, be any worse.

That same young man, who had dared to mention the Prince by his first name, was beheaded later that same afternoon. He head was left outside the gates of the palace, to rot on a spike, beside the head of the former King.

...

To Be Continued.

**Author:** I write again. According to Plan is on hiatus, to discover more about that you can check out my profile. _This_ story however pleases me greatly, seeing as I have decided to re-write the W.I.T.C.H story line in a dark and depressing manner that gives me happy butterflies. Yay. Again, I have changed up some personalities, mostly minor characters but some of the major characters are a bit exaggerated.

For this chapter I wanted to give Phobos a history, rather than just have him go MWHAHAHAHA, I want to rule the world. No one is born evil, I feel.

Also, for this story, I wanted to incorporate some witchcraft and folklore and stuff. Like werewolves and vampires...those sorts of things. Caleb is coming up, Nerissa got a mention here...

Happy readings! I'm off to pen chapter 2.


	2. A is for Arrival

**La Dolce Vita**

**By Seniya**

A is for Arrival

_A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.  
__Lao Tzu  
_

* * *

Susan DuPont was a sort of novelty in the small town of Heatherfield. She had arrived there about eight years before, incredibly conspicuous in a bright red Ferrari packed to the point of overflowing with boxes and bags. She had driven straight through the town's main road, her stereo calling even more attention to herself, and stopped at the recently deceased Mrs. Martin's old house. She then proceeded to outrage the neighbours who had pressed themselves next to windows and doors to get a good look, by walking up to the door, going inside and staying there.

She had been outraging them ever since.

Ms. DuPont was unmarried – strange, especially in a town filled mostly with old couples and young families. Furthermore, she had no children and apparently no ambition to change either of those facts. Facts that caused the females of Heatherfield eternal worry – a husband missing: Ms. DuPont; a fiancé who suddenly had a change of heart: Ms. DuPont. It was clearly frustrating.

Not that Susan noticed their frustration. Or really, anything other than herself. It was expected. She was, quite frankly, stunning, with long ebony hair, smooth golden skin and wide spaced brown eyes. A professional model in her younger days, she had graced the catwalks of Milan and Paris before she committed the cardinal sin of the fashion industry. She'd gotten pregnant. Susan had disappeared after that. Resurfacing years later as a writer of trashy "chic-lit", penning tales of vapid females obsessed with sex, clothes and money. It seemed to make her happy.

Heatherfield didn't.

The place was too small. The people were too small minded. She longed for the hustle of New York, the buzz of Paris – but, year after year, she stayed. Leaving only for exotic vacations and long book tours.

Yes, she definitely kept the neighbour's talking.

Really, nothing had ever stirred their attention like she did. Not even when Sheriff Lair's daughter was caught – in a compromising position – with Alvin Martin in the church's basement one Sunday morning, or even when Katrina Peters tried to elope with a man three times her age. _Nothing_, had ever come close to dethroning Susan DuPont, until one weekend – when her daughter arrived.

* * *

Wilhelmina Chanel Vandom, had been named after the modelling agency that had signed her mother at age seventeen, her middle name came from her mother's favourite designer and her last name came from a father that she had only met five years ago. Will, as she preferred to be called, hated all three of those names.

She was short for sixteen and thin in a way that made it seem as though puberty had bypassed her without a second glance. She had given herself a haircut in the spring, making her bright red hair (possibly her only selling point) fall in a crooked bob around her ears. Wilhelmina was also freckled and pale and (because one must wonder about the personality of such a pitiful looking girl) she had the disturbing tendency to swear like a solider.

She wasn't friendly either.

The daughter had arrived in Heatherfield a mere eight minutes ago, driven through the town's main road in a yellow taxi, stopped at Mrs. Martin's old house and gotten out. By now, the neighbour's had taken in every detail; the freckles, the oversized "Home Depot" T-shirt, the tattered jeans and the two duffle bags at her feet.

They watched, transfixed, as she climbed the stairs to the veranda and pressed the doorbell.

_Ding dong._

Susan came then, clad in a silk night gown, looking completely worse for wear.

* * *

Mrs. Davids who lived across the street, disapproved, "It's nearly noon," she spoke to Mrs. Hale, pushing the lace curtain back all the while. "Oh fudge...I can't even hear what they're talking about."

"Who is the girl?" Mrs. Hale was at her daughter's ballet recital, a rather dull affair in comparison to the latest adventure of Ms. Susan DuPont.

"I have no idea. She might be family...but Susan has never had any visitors before."

"How old is she? Maybe it's one of her New York friends."

"No. She's at least fourteen."

"Fourteen? Doesn't _she_ know that young girls aren't supposed to be out so late? I'd never let either of my girls by themselves at this hour. You've heard about Mrs. Boyce's girl, haven't you?"

"Oh yes! It's so tragic! The sweetest thing too! Used to sit right in front of me at church."

"Our town is changing. It isn't the same place as when I was a girl. I could walk around at any hour and –"

"Oh wait... She's going inside! Fudge!"

"What is it?"

"They locked the door."

* * *

There were no words that described the overwhelming sensation of relief that overcame Aldarn as he clamoured over the massive castle walls. He imagined that he should be accustomed to this by now—it was a job that he had been doing willingly for three years—but each time, the trepidation only worsened. Anyone suspected of being a spy in the King's palace was executed immediately. He risked his life everyday by going into that castle, but sometimes, like today, something happened that made him recall exactly why he was still willing.

It wasn't a long journey from the palace gate to the rebellion's headquarters. Actually, if King Phobos actually discovered that the source of his worries lay less than a mile away from his home, he would go blind with rage.

It was unusually bright this night. Both moons were full and long shadows darkened the earth wherever their light saw it fit to touch. He used this darkness to his advantage, darting from shadow to shadow; an invisibility cloak of sorts.

"Caleb!" He spoke only when he arrived at a massive stone wall, it was past curfew, he was certain—they would need to hurry. He pressed his body closer to the rock, "Caleb! Cum laude! Open! Damn you! Cum laude!"

In a moment the stone moved away and Aldarn was swallowed up by the darkness. "Fool! Blurting out the password like that! Anyone could have heard..."

"Caleb!" He attempted to push past the aggravated Baldon, a massive ginger headed man with legs as thick as tree trunks, but was held back with a single backwards stroke of the giant's arm. "Release me! I have news from the palace."

Baldon studied Aldarn's excited face quietly, the rebel before him was young, rash and quick tempered. This wasn't the first time that he had come rushing into the hide-out with some snippet of gossip that he'd overheard, expecting Caleb to formulate some ridiculous plan based purely on rumour. "Aldarn, quiet yourself. Caleb is speaking with those stationed in the East. They have some information about the disappearances."

"So do I!" Aldarn protested, but he stopped struggling beneath the other man's arm.

"What have you heard? Tell me." The space about them was narrow, made that way so that large groups couldn't pass through at once, a method of protection.

"I..." Aldarn hesitated, considering that Baldon had been with their group for little over a month—not nearly long enough to qualify one to hear top secret information, even if Caleb did trust him. "I'll wait."

Only a slight tick in his cheek betrayed Baldon's true feelings about being overlooked so casually by the boy, but rather than comment, he only indicated with a slight nod of his head. A sudden brightness infiltrated the dark corridor and Baldon muttered, "Well, there he is Aldarn."

* * *

Wilhelmina Vandom was having an awful year. Well really, it had been an awful decade, with a lucky break here and there, but it always somehow culminated with the shit hitting the fan, and poor Will, being covered in it from head to toe.

Presently, she was too tired to consider her soon to be shit-bath, having just disembarked from a three hour flight, only to spend another two hours in an over congested bus, and a final forty minutes standing stupidly in a bus terminal, waiting for her mother, who had apparently decided not to show up to said bus terminal. So she had been forced to take a taxi. A taxi that smelled like 1985, with a driver that looked as though he had jumped out of America's Most Wanted.

She wasn't surprised. Pissed; yes. But not surprised.

At sixteen Will had seen her mother a total of nine times throughout her entire life; a few birthdays, two Christmases and one other time when she'd been "passing through" Texas on her way to Mexico. To have to be sent to North Carolina to live with the woman (albeit for a mere six months) was a complete slap in the face. In fact, when she'd voiced her protests to her father last week, he'd wholeheartedly agreed, but had told her to "stick it out" since she was their "only option".

It was amazing that Susan agreed to this in the first place, Will thought. Obviously, she didn't want a child; she'd shipped Will off to her grandparents when she was just eight months old and given up custody without being asked to some years later.

And now here they both were; the victims of fate it seemed. Staring at each other wordlessly in the pepto-bismol pink dining room that was covered as much as any room could be in pictures of its owner, they wondered exactly how the Gods of genetics could have been so unkind.

In the background, a lanky, dark haired teenager hustled about behind them. Shirtless, Will noted, her large brown eyes followed the boy's every move until they stopped at her mother's side.

"So...ummm...Ms. DuPont...I'll call..."

"It's fine John." She snapped.

"I'm Kevin," his voice cracked when he spoke, the disappointment was evident.

"Yes...of course...I'm just...I'm busy today...could I talk to you later?" If the fact that her daughter had intruded upon her and her teenaged lover bothered her, Susan had the grace not to show it.

"Yeah...yeah...um...D'you want me to go out the back?" Kevin inquired.

"It doesn't matter."

He nodded his head stiffly, his Adam's apple bobbing with every movement. Finally, his eyes fell on Will. "Um...it's nice to meet you..." He outstretched his hand.

"I'll bet." Will ignored the hand, ignored the boy and focused her attention on the woman in front of her who looked as though her entire world had just coming crashing down.

"I'll...I'll leave then." Unaccustomed to such rudeness, Kevin picked up his shirt from the floor and rushed out towards the back.

"Wilhelmina," Susan pulled her face from out of her hands, "I'm so sorry. I had no idea that you were coming today."

"Obviously not." Will pressed her back further into the lime green chair, "or I suppose you might have cleared out your harem."

"Wilhelmina, that's not fair."

"It's Will, please and thank-you."

Sighing heavily, Susan got to her feet and walked to the kitchen, stumbling around the mess of dirty dishes in order to find a clean cup for her afternoon Vodka. "I don't know why you insist on that name...Wilhelmina is elegant...classy...where is the damn...."

"Because you know so much about class. Didn't you name me after the hand that fed you?"

"Just stop it!" She'd found the vodka, and now she bounded from the kitchen, Grey Goose in hand, absolutely fuming, "I have never told you that I was perfect! Never! And all you do, all you have ever done is blame me for everything!"

Will sat perfectly still throughout the tirade, she wasn't prone to loud outbursts, preferring to make sarcastic remarks before and after these lengthy speeches. "Because clearly, you're guiltless."

"I am your mother! Don't you dare come into my house and talk to me as if I'm just some..."

"Slut?" Will interjected, when her mother stopped speaking, when the Grey Goose slipped from her hand and said hand collided with her cheek, she knew that she'd crossed a line.

"This is my house."

Will didn't reply.

"And don't you dare..."

"It's just six months. Don't worry; I'll be gone soon enough." She grabbed her backpack from the floor and ran past the woman, who seemed too shocked by her actions to move.

Once out in the warm summer evening, Will hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders and realized just what she should have noted since she'd arrived in this god-forsaken town.

She was utterly and completely alone.

* * *

The rebellion's headquarters were completely underground, a wild maze of rooms and traps juxtaposed frighteningly close together. Caleb's personal chambers were massive in comparison to the others. It wasn't decorated and there was a bed in the corner, but every spare inch was covered in furs and maps, armours and swords. But the title personal was more of a formality. Caleb spent the majority of his time in that room with dozes of persons surrounding him. Here is where he held his meetings, where strategies were discussed and decisions were made.

"A rip in the veil?" His voice was low, incredulous. He was tired and discouraged and longed to just crawl into his bed and fall asleep. But he couldn't – so he didn't show it. It was a weak thought and the others would pounce on him for it.

"More and more are appearing each day..." Aldarn, however, was excited, his young face gleamed with barely suppressed pride, "...according to Phobos."

Caleb thought briefly, "I have also heard rumours about these rips, and if they are real, then I do not doubt that it's where the missing have ventured to...but why does it concern Phobos? He has shown more than one time that he doesn't care about his people."

Aldarn licked his dry lips excitedly, "he thinks that his sister is alive; and that she lives beyond this world, on the other side."

"Phobos' sister did not live past infancy, if even for so long." It was Baldorn who spoke now. He had been silently watching the exchange with interest, waiting for his turn to speak.

"That is not what he says. He plans to send an entire army to Earth to search for her. He wants her badly. He is nearly desperate."

Caleb grew silent then; he was thinking, Aldarn knew, considering the odds and then planning ways to overcome any impediments. He added in his opinion quickly. "If we were to find this girl first—she could be used as leverage. Or even, if she possesses something...some power that Phobos wants..."

"It isn't that." Caleb interjected; his deep green eyes were suddenly sombre. "A female sibling would be the true heir to the throne. Meridian's Queen. Phobos wants the girl dead so that he may protect his throne."

Aldarn nodded, his disappointment was not easily concealed by the flickering candlelight. Truthfully, he had never stopped to consider that option.

"If Phobos seeks his sister, then so must we. We need to find her first—she is our rightful ruler, a light of hope for our people to rally behind."

"Absolutely not!" Baldorn spoke again. "Phobos knows that spies lie listening in his castle. How can we trust this?"

"If it is true, then how can we let is slip past us?" Caleb got to feet and began to walk about his room. It was a hard decision to make.

"This is absurd! And dangerous. We cannot take the risk. A journey to Earth? We...We do not even know if it is safe, much less how to return when the time comes!"

"Relax Boldorn."

"Relax?"

"Caleb!" The tension was cut sharply with the entrance of another spy. He was young, as were most, and covered in sweat and dust from his journey. "I bring news from the South! A thousand of Phobos' personal guard have vanished near the Forest of Gerild."

"Vanished?"

"Yes. The reports are saying...they were...they fell into a bright light and were no more."

Aldarn nodded, his voice was rich with glee. "There is your proof."

* * *

"Nana!" It was nearing the end of summer. The evenings were getting colder now and the days were getting shorter. Stubborn to prolong the relaxation and simplicity of the season, Hay Lin had gotten up early this morning, a Saturday, and set off towards Hale Pond. She had spent the entire day there with her Labrador, Toad, immersed in the crisp, cool water. It was on her way back that she had noticed something that ruined the simplicity all by itself.

Toad by her side, she sprinted up the hill to her grandmother's restaurant, a poster crumpled in her fist. "Nana!" She yelled again when she touched the stairs to "The Red Dragon".

"Nana!"

"What?" Her grandmother met her half-way. She was dressed casually, obviously she had come from the kitchen; her long silk dress was covered with an apron. "Stop the yelling child! And you are late! I have four orders that need to be delivered! Look at you! You're dripping wet! Where are your shoes—"

"Nana, there's been another one." She pulled out the crumpled poster and began to unfold it. "Her name is Lydia Boyce. She's fifteen. Her mother says that she went missing on Wednesday."

Yan Lin clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Damn it. It's Lillith. I know it."

"What's she gonna do to them?"

"Who knows. She's sick. Twisted. She might eat them. Take their place so that she can eat us." She began to remove her apron. "Rest assured, there will be some eating involved."

Hay Lin wrinkled her nose, "Why?"

"She's the queen of the demons. It's just how she gets her kicks. Get the compass. We'll need to hurry."

* * *

It was a small fucking town, Will noticed. Somehow that fact hadn't registered even as she had read the "Pop. 1545" beneath the "Welcome to Heatherfield" sign when she had driven past it this morning. She had, Will imagined, seen all of the sights in her brisk thirty minute walk around town. There were two churches, three schools, four restaurants and a movie theatre. Wow.

There was also an ice-cream stand, where the lady who owned it swore that everything was home-made. Will didn't believe her, knowing that underneath the table probably stood a hundred empty cartons of "Baskin Robins". But she liked ice cream, and the old lady serving it seemed to be preoccupied with the radio playing "The Beatles" behind her. Besides, it was getting dark and she didn't have any where else to go. She sat by the stall swallowing her ice cream, wondering just how long these six months would take. Or maybe, her dad would get off before that time, and she could get the hell out of Dodge.

"Well, good evening little lady."

Crap. Will dug her spoon further into her cup, "Good evening." She muttered, but didn't look up.

"Martha! How're you doing?" He greeted the woman behind the counter and she replied briefly before returning to humming the chorus of "Let It Be".

He began humming along as well, good naturedly chuckling when he realized that he didn't really know the tune. "I'll take two scoops of strawberry." He sighed heavily, "It's been a rough day. Been talking to Mrs. Boyce, she's real broken up over Lydia. Wish there was something more I could tell her...but it's just like she vanished into thin air."

_Lydia_. That sounded familiar. Will's eyes travelled over to the side of the Ice Cream stand. Stapled there were four posters, each depicting the smiling face of a teenaged girl. Lydia was at the top. _Missing_. Interesting.

She finally looked over to her dinner companion. A big, bulging man, the only thing interesting about him was the Sheriff badge tacked onto his shirt.

"Four girls in two weeks, the town's in a panic. I hear CNN wants to fly in and do a report. I just don't know if the town can handle the publicity."

"But people always go missing around here." Will put in. "In the fifties, about half of the town disappeared for two weeks and then reappeared without an idea of what had happened to them. Sixteen years ago twenty people went missing and they still haven't returned."

"Well, hello there little lady." He seemed genuinely surprised that she could talk. "Now how'd you find out all of that?"

"Books," She shrugged.

"I don't think that I've seen you around here before."

"That's because you haven't."

"Sharp little tongue you've got there." He laughed, "reminds me of my Irma. She'd be a little older than you, but I always say, your mouth will be your undoing."

Will didn't reply, choosing instead to shove another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

"You here by yourself?"

"Yeah."

"It's getting late."

"I noticed."

"Let me give you a ride home."

"It's fine."

"Now, now. It isn't. I can't let it get to five girls in two weeks. Not on my watch."

"It's fine." Realising that he would only pester her until she gave into his request, Will got to her feet, carrying her bowl in one hand and her backpack in the other. "It's like five minutes. I can take care of myself."

He watched as she took off, his eyes followed her until she turned around the first corner.

"Martha, I'll be back in a minute. Let me just make sure this little lady gets home alright."

* * *

"Maybe we need more chicken blood."

Hay Lin didn't particularly like this part of helping her grandmother. Right now, it was half past eleven and they were in Heatherfield's only cemetery, having just stunned the watchman, standing beside a giant pot that whistled and steamed without any fire.

"No more damn chicken blood." Yan Lin was growing annoyed. This was taking too long. Why was the magic so weak tonight?

Her granddaughter flipped through the book in her hands, "maybe you need more dirt?"

"No! If we take any more dirt from Mrs. Martin's grave, we'll have to bury her again."

"Well, then I dunno how to fix the summoning spell." She sat down on top of a tombstone. "I'm tired. I wanna go to bed and Mom says that I have to go to school tomorrow 'cause she can't do it on Monday."

"The compass..." She shook the device in her hand, the needle inside spun uncontrollably. "It hasn't behaved like this since..."

"Well Yan Lin," From out of the hissing metal pot rose a face, distorted by steam, but frightening all the same. "What is it now?"

"Ah, Lillith." Yan Lin took great care to hide the compass behind her back. "There is no need for formalities. You old whore, just give us back the girls you stole and we won't have to waste any more time chasing you down and stabbing you in that dusty old chest of yours."

"Getting old Yan Lin. What is this? A new philosophy? When in doubt, blame Lillith?"

"Stop the foolishness! I'll ask you one last time. Where are those girls?"

"Think about it Yan Lin! Aren't these children a little old for me?"

"I wasn't kidding..."

"Everyone in the Underworld can see what is happening here! Your enemies come from another direction. Another world. You can come after me, if you wish. But I won't lie. It'll be a waste of your time."

She was gone in the next instant.

Hay Lin looked to her grandmother, who was still focused on the compass in her fist. "Is she telling the truth?"

Her eyes never left the compass. "Rule number one: never trust a demon."

"So we're going after her?" They had gone to Hades before—she still had the bruises from the sixth circle of Hell.

"No." Yan Lin pocketed the compass and turned to face her granddaughter. "Pack up the ingredients and don't forget the book."

"What about Lillith?"

"It's not her."

"But I thought..."

"Have I ever told you about the guardians of the veil?"

* * *

**Author:** I'm home for Christmas. Gonna try and write a lot of everything to keep you guys entertained. So keep me entertained with reviews. Hehehehe. Yes, I've given Hay Lin a sort of ghost hunter job. I think it suits her and Yan Lin. Ummmm...and I've given Will mommy issues and I think you guys may have noticed some references to the other girls. Will's character isn't really so different it's just the situation that she's in right now, once the others come around, you'll see her falling back into that vulnerable, shy type. I haven't changed the basis of the plot so much, Will is going to have a sword instead of a necklace, but other than that, it's the same stuff. Oh, and Will x Caleb, because I ship that like it's going out of fashion.

Next: B is for Beginnings


	3. B is for Beginnings Part 1

**La Dolce Vita**

**By Seniya**

**B** is for **Beginnings**

**Part One**

He has half the deed done who has made a beginning.—Horace

The Sunday morning had opened just like many others in Heatherfield. The sun had been bright and high in a cloudless blue sky. The birds had been singing, and slowly and in unison, all the houses in Heatherfield had emptied of their owners, dressed in their Sunday best as they set off on the journey to church.

Hay Lin was exempt from this early morning ritual today. Graveyard duty had taken its toll on her. Or rather, lugging home a giant cauldron half a mile had taken its toll. Still, there was no rest for the wicked and her mother had roused her at the crack of dawn, piling down math equations and chapters of history like a demented hurricane.

Right now, Hay Lin was crouched over her computer desk, actively typing away. She was desperate to finish this essay before lunch – or before her grandmother found some other errand for her to do, whichever one came first.

Her long raven hair hung loose about her shoulders, still damp in the roots from her quick shower this morning so that her pink "hello kitty" t-shirt was soaked right through. There were bags under almond shaped eyes, and every few minutes, she would stop her frantic typing to stifle a yawn. _The impact of slavery on the socio-economic structure of America_ wasn't helping to keep her awake either.

It was a knock at her window that made her look up from her work, but it was the source of that disturbance that made her jump up from her chair and rush over to the window. In a second she had flung it open and stepped back to welcome the intruder.

"Hi Eric!" She flinched inwardly at the sound of her voice—had it always been so nasal and high? "H-How are you?"

"I'm doing all right." He was chewing gum; it drew her attention to his perfect teeth and gorgeous mouth. Oh God, was she staring? She looked away immediately, dragging her fingers through her messy hair and wondering if she should at least attempt to put it up. Would that be desperate? She sat down on her bed.

"So, um, Eric," She crossed her legs, uncrossed her legs. "What's up?"

He had been looking over her homework; his eyes lingering on the sketches that decorated the sheets where her polynomials should have been. "Your grandmother called," he met her gaze, making her mouth dry out, "said something about her compass."

"Compass?" The disappointment pooling in her stomach was intense, but she managed to smile through it. "Oh, that."

"Your mom making you study on a Sunday?"

"Oh, yeah..." He had grown over the summer, he towered over her now, "But it's not so bad."

"You're not coming to school this September then?"

"Oh," She remembered that conversation, it made her feel unnaturally happy that he did as well. "Well, Mom thinks that it doesn't make any sense. I mean, she wants me to do my SATs next year, and if I went to public school they might put me in ninth grade or something—so this is better." No! She was rambling! She sounded so pathetic! He was going to go home and laugh at how stupid she was!

"I think," he came closer. She could smell the soap that he had used this morning. _Irish Spring_. She closed her eyes and puckered her lips. "Maybe you would like public school. You wouldn't be stuck in this house by yourself all the time. I mean there are other things that are just as important as college."

Hay Lin opened her eyes. "You're right." She forced a smile, "I'll talk to her."

"Eric!" Her grandmother's heavy footsteps signalled her arrival long before her voice did. "Why can't you use the door like normal people!"

Her hair was pulled back into a severe bun at the top of her head. Today, she had traded in her usual silk dresses for sweat pants and a t-shirt, but even the casualness of her attire couldn't take away from the stern lines in her face. "I knocked." Eric grinned, "I figured that you had stopped answering your door."

Yan Lin clicked her tongue in annoyance, her knowing eyes moving from her granddaughter, sitting blushing on her bed, to the lanky youth who was slouching under the weight of an overstuffed backpack. "You didn't need to come here." YanLin scolded Eric, more annoyed about the fact that his presence would cause her granddaughter to behave lovesick for the rest of the day than the mere fact that he was there. "I just wanted to know if your compasses were working properly."

He shrugged off the heavy backpack and rolled his shoulders back and forth—an action which caused HayLin to swoon. "Not exactly. At first, I thought that this was an age problem—you know, that fact that your equipment is half a century old. But, uh, nah, mine aren't doing so well either."

"Brilliant deduction." This meant that she had been right. Lilith most definitely hadn't been lying. "You can leave now."

"Not so fast." Eric walked briskly over to the old woman, "this is only happening in Heatherfield."

It wouldn't do for a busy body like Eric to find out about everything that was going on. She suppressed a frown and stared up into his pimple covered face with as earnest a face as she could muster. "And how do you know that?"

"Internet."

Shit. The internet for Yanlin meant other busy bodies blabbing the details about what was initially a very sensitive job. Still, this meant that the boy already knew too much.

He was rambling off this knowledge right now. His voice hadn't matured fully yet, and it rose and fell often during his speech. God, she'd never know what HayLin saw in him. "You see, the compasses find demons and ghosts because they pinpoint high energy levels. They aren't working now because the energy in Heatherfield is fluctuating. They're trying to pinpoint too many things."

"Eric, did you find out all of that by yourself?"

Jesus Christ! It was common sense! "HayLin, didn't your mother leave you a shit-load of homework?"

"Nana! Don't swear!"

"So Eric," It was better to sway the conversation in a safer direction as quickly as possible, "what do you think about the missing girls?"

"Are you asking my opinion?"

No, she was asking if he had two brain cells to rub together! "Of course, your views are always valued."

"I think that it's Kappas."

"Water demons?" _Unlikely. Nearly impossible_. "That's...interesting. What makes you think that?"

"They're too old to be Lilith. And I'm going on the fact that all these girls lived near water."

This was Heatherfield. Everyone lived near the water. Besides, Kappas had gone extinct back in the early eighties. "You know, you could be right," Seizing this as an opportunity to rid herself of the young parasite, Yanlin elaborated, "Kappas are most active during the night. But, since the sheriff put that curfew in place they must be starving. They would be willing to strike in the daytime. They would be willing to strike right now." She let the last sentence hang in the air for a long moment.

"Well, Haylin and I'd better be making our way down the pond then! Better catch those kappas! Let me get my jacket." She threw in a chuckle for good measure and began to retreat down the hallway, waiting for the call that she was certain would come.

"Mrs. Lin!" True to form, Eric had followed her. "You know, you don't have to do this. I'll go look for the kappas."

"Oh no, Eric. I couldn't let you take all the glory for rescuing those girls," she sighed heavily as though this were a great conflict in her heart. "When I think of all the photographs they'll make you pose for. And all of those interviews that they'll force you to do."

"But Ms. Lin!" He rushed past her on the stairs, turning only once to face her and plead half heartedly, "look, HayLin has her homework to do. I'll go. It's no problem."

She waited until she heard the soft click of the front door before retracing her steps to HayLin's room. "Get your things. We're leaving!"

"Nana, did you hear what Eric said?" The tiny brunette was practically bouncing off of the walls with glee. She clasped her hands on top of her heart before whispering reverently, "HayLin has her homework to do!" She shrieked wildly at the end. "He cares Nana!"

In response, YanLin tugged at her loose hair sharply. "Get your things." She repeated, "we're leaving."

"Where are we going?" Her face fell, "we aren't going to Hell again, are we?"

"No," YanLin said, "our destination is much worse."

.........................................................

It was a gloomy day in Meridian. The morning had brought with it another raid from Phobos' soldiers. And by afternoon, the air hung stagnant and heavy beneath the cloudless raven sky, rank with the stench of death. No moon or sun brightened the sky. The only light came from the insides of the hovels and the caves where families stayed huddled around fires, silently recovering from the day's horrors.

Within the rebel's headquarters was no different. In each of the dimly lit rooms members alternately broke down in tears and swore damnation to their king. Even Caleb was not immune to the grief which had taken hold of his entire camp. Aldarn was especially stricken, his mother and sisters had been ravaged by the soldiers before they been torched alive. His father had been kidnapped along with the other men from his village. They were probably being tortured as they waited here.

Aldarn blamed himself for his absence and was nearly hysterical with grief. Caleb had taken him into his private chambers more out of desperation to keep his madness from spreading than out of a real sensitivity for the boy's feelings. "It isn't wise of you to blame yourself. Phobos is cruel. He will do this again."

"Is that how you let yourself sleep at night?" The shorter man rose to his feet, tossing aside the ale that the older men had given him to calm his nerves. "We sit here doing nothing while those men are killed."

Caleb's green eyes hardened, "Aldarn, sit down."

"No!" There were tears streaming along his dark green cheeks, he shook his head wildly as he spoke, "What kind of leader are you? You allow people to be murdered in front of your eyes and you don't even try – y-you don't care! You're wasting your time searching for a missing girl instead of trying to help those who are actually here!"

"Aldarn, sit down." He had folded his arms atop of his chest, but otherwise, his body betrayed no sign of stress.

Heart racing, breaths coming in short pants, Aldarn tightened his fists. And rushed forward.

Caleb took the first blow to the side of his face. The second he managed to catch on its way to his stomach. The difficulty came in subduing the overexcited young man, but through sheer determination and a great deal of upper body strength, he eventually managed to wrestle Aldarn to the floor. With one arm pinned behind his back, Aldarn was shoved back into the corner. Wiping the trail of blood from the side of his mouth, Caleb spoke, as calmly and as surely as he had before, "Aldarn, sit down."

And then he left.

.............................................................

"How's Aldarn holding up?" Baldorn met Caleb in the deserted corridor. He eyed the red trail along the man's chin and smirked, "He give you that?"

"Did you bring her?" Ignoring the quips and the innuendos, Caleb walked along the corridor, pausing once at the single open door. There sat the answer to his question.

The woman was tall, thick and tempting. Her dark mocha skin was gorgeous, her ebony hair was stunning and her face was absolutely divine. She, as all women do, knew all of these things very well and as a result, had a knack of manipulating her features to her best advantage.

"Caleb," She had a deep, raspy voice, "You do know how to keep a lady waiting." She knew that too.

"Lucia. Since when have you been described as a lady?" Caleb kept his distance, knowing of her love of touching, "did you bring what I asked for?"

Lucia smiled, revealed perfect white teeth, she moved slowly, "Don't I always?" Her hazel eyes lingered momentarily on Baldorn. "Who's your friend?"

"Where are they?" Caleb snapped her attention back on him.

"I can't carry around spells." She laughed, "silly boy."

"Then hurry up." He watched Baldorn smile appreciatively from out of the corner of his eye, "Phobos destroyed another two villages today. I'd like to be able to stop the next strike before this nation turns against me."

"Touching," Lucia walked forward, the long scarlet robes that she wore clinging to her hips and breasts as she did, "But a communication charm and a concealment spell won't come cheap."

Caleb nearly strangled her. "Haven't we already paid you?"

"That was before I noticed how desperately you wanted my services," there was a certain degree of maliciousness in her eyes as she watched Caleb's taunt frame. "These are hard times. The price has gone up."

"You are a disgusting shadow of a woman!" Caleb hissed, growing more annoyed when she only laughed off his insult.

"But I'm rich." She placed her hands on her hips. "Pay me."

"Go get the woman's money Baldorn." He was definitely going to strangle her.

"Don't look so grim Caleb," Her eyes watched Baldorn's broad back as he exited the room, "I'll do you a favour. For free. I promise."

"I don't want your favours."

"Of course not." She understood. It didn't matter. Lucia licked her full rouged lips before beginning in her strong, musical voice, "the concealment spell will hide you from all mortals. They won't be able to see you, hear you or taste you. Isn't that interesting? The taste thing. But they will be able to feel you. So stay out of their way before they become suspicious."

"Anything else?"

"You will be able to communicate, with your thoughts, with another person of your choosing. But choose carefully, they will be able to hear everything. This goes both ways." She smiled her slow, seductive grin, "May I volunteer?"

He began to back away, "Can you cast them both today?"

"Yes. Another thing. The concealment charm wears off after a while. I'll give you three days. After that, you can come back – _for seconds_."

Baldorn returned then. In his fist he carried a pouch filled with gold which he dutifully handed over to Caleb.

"Here's the favour." She watched happily as Caleb began to pick out a few coins, "I'll ignore the fact that you're unappreciative. I took the liberty of casting a seeking spell. Yes, I did it for free. Something to cheer up the troops. I couldn't get a clear visual of the girl. There's a spell that protects her. It makes her hard to see. But she does live in a village called Heatherfield. She hasn't lived there for very long... and she isn't happy there. Uh, she's short, quiet. Has very tiny feet." She clicked her tongue as she attempted to recall another fact, "She has a very strange name. Even for someone on earth. It isn't the name Aphrodite gave her. I suppose her captor thought that this would protect them both."

"Tiny feet?" But Caleb was far too grateful to question it any further, "and you're certain of all of this." He weighed the coins in his hand before handing them over.

"I always am." She brushed her heavy hair off her shoulders. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

'I'm touched."

"Not until I've had my turn to do some damage anyway."

Lucia pulled her robe closer to her body, "Another thing Caleb. Enemies are everywhere. _Everywhere_. Be careful."

"I always am."

......................................................................

Will had always considered herself as being a very simple girl. She wasn't fussy like other sixteen year olds. She didn't want a car or the expensive jeans or even clear skin. But she did have those few things that she liked. And that was fair, wasn't it? For someone who wanted so little to always have those few things that made them happy?

For example, Will had her favourite cereal. _Fruit Loops_. She had been having _Fruit Loops_ every day for breakfast since she was five. It made her happy. She was a creature of habit. Imagine her frustration then, at waking up on this Sunday morning to find that her mother had no _Fruit Loops_. Well, that wasn't really surprising. She doubted that her mother knew her birthday, much less her favourite cereal.

Still, it wasn't a problem. Will had pulled on her jeans and taken the ten minute walk down to the town's supermarket. To find it closed. Yes, closed. The owners, as well as the rest of the town had all gone to Sunday service. And she was apparently, the one who would suffer.

There wasn't much she could do about that. So she had swallowed her disgust and gone home, rattled through her mother's lime green cupboards and found some low carbohydrate, sugar free cereal, which she then ate, grudgingly, with soy milk.

Will also liked cartoons. She had been watching the antics of Daffy Duck and Porky Pig since she could remember, and she had no intention of stopping. Sadly for her, the TV had stopped working.

As well as the electric water heater in the shower.

And the computer in the mango coloured Study.

In fact, every single electrical device in the house was dead. Meaning one thing, as her mother had so eloquently put it when she had arisen around noon. "What the hell did you do?" Clearly, this was all Will's fault.

"The phone's dead too!" She then began the search for her cell. Once it had been found, she dialled the number of a male neighbour, who had confirmed her primary accusation: his devices were all still functioning. He didn't know what that could be. A fuse? But he'd be over in a minute to see what was wrong.

Will didn't think that it was necessary for her to remain in the house while her mother entertained. So she'd gone up to the guest bedroom, rummaged through her suitcase and found a clean t-shirt. She'd go down by the pond that she'd passed by yesterday. That would definitely be more fun than this.

............................................................

"There are many worlds in ours." Her grandmother had suddenly become excited. Over the last hour she had apparently discovered a trick to deciphering the compass. Her interpretation had led to the back of Heatherfield Methodist, back to the cemetery, during that morning's sermon.

The sun beat down heavily on the back of HayLin's neck; sweat dotted her forehead and ran down her back. But her grandmother didn't seem to notice, she continued to speak in quick, frenzied tones. She was anticipating something—clearly.

"They sit on top of each other. Like a house of cards. All over the place." They passed by old Mrs. Martin's grave—the compass' needle gave a lurch—and then they went beside it. "They're separated by magic and spells and veils."

"Like the Underworld? Where the dead go?"

"Exactly. Where we are going now is like the Underworld...At least in premise." YanLin bent and pulled at some of the grass near the headstone. It was dead. Dry. Fried actually. Burnt.

"It's another dimension," Behind them the pastor had started the alter call, the organ sounded triumphantly. "So how is it different?"

"Remember the guardians that I told you about?"

"Yeah..."

"Before the guardians, before even humans existed, there was only one world. Earth." The needle was moving erratically now. This was it. "When humans came, they brought with them the seven cardinal sins. They polluted Earth. They created malice, greed, laziness, envy, pride, gluttony and lust. It was chaotic. You can't imagine."

"I guess not."

"The Gods above grew angry. They spilt Earth into two to save humans from themselves. Evil was placed in Meridian and good was left in Earth. The Gods took away man's immortality as punishment."

"Nana—these stories are...getting worse."

"The guardians were created to maintain a balance between the good and evil."

"But—Not everyone on Earth is good. Look at Hitler, Hussein – Bush."

"And not everyone in Meridian is evil. But there is a balance between the two. It is very intricate. And if it begins to topple too far on either side, the veil separating our worlds begins to tear."

"Okay." Somehow, when her grandmother had explained to her all those years ago that the shadowy old man sitting quietly at the foot of her bed was actually her great-great-great grandfather, it hadn't seemed as impossible as all of this. "I'll go with the guardian thing. I remember what you said; they control the elements—blah, blah, blah. But this ancient world, veil thingy is too much."

"My own flesh and blood." YanLin seemed genuinely disappointed, "A sceptic. You're getting to be like your father!"

"Nana! Look, the compass stopped working, you said so yourself. Why are we standing here? Church is gonna be out in a few seconds and they'll see us out here—they already think we're witches or something!"

"Look!" Her grandmother faced her with fury on her face, she was brandishing the dry grass as though it were proof. "It's burnt!"

"So? It's summer!"

"No! It's burnt! Great heat was here! Just here! I know it!"

"You don't know! It's just your stories!"

"I know because I've seen it!"

"Nana! Stop it!"

"I know because I was one! I was a guardian of the veil!"

HayLin's face clouded at that. "Nana..."

"The veil is weakest where evil is done. This is where we summoned Lilith."

She wouldn't get to finish her explanation, she wouldn't need to. Behind her grandmother, a bright blue light exploded out of nowhere. It was massive and blinding, well over seven feet in the air and two feet across. HayLin needed to shield her eyes from the light. Where it stood, it made a low buzzing sound.

But nothing could hide the smug grin that now covered her grandma's face. "I told you so! Now hurry up! They don't last long!"

She grabbed HayLin's arm and pulled her into the light. The younger followed, too stunned to do anything else. The last thing she remembered was the ice cold sensation that drenched her from head to toe as she was pulled forward.

This was hell all over again.

......................................................

What would he need to take to earth? The basics, he imagined. Food and water definitely, bedding. He wasn't certain what Earth had. The legends had always described it as a hellish place, far worse than anything Meridian had ever had to offer. Persons from Earth had always been described as cold and cruel. It was their evil that had led to their segregation in order to protect the others.

He couldn't risk the life of anyone else in his camp on this mission. It was too risky and arguably, too frivolous. He'd have to go himself. If in three days he couldn't find anything, then he'd just have to count his losses and return home to find another plan of attack. He hoped the other men would see it the same way. Aldarn had been upset, but what he had said couldn't be ignored. These were the thoughts that infected the entire camp.

They were growing tired of following him.

"Aphrodite was a beautiful woman. I was but a lad when she married Ares," Baldorn was happy to give Caleb some advice, "But I will never forget her face. The most beautiful woman that you could ever imagine. I had never seen hair so red."

"I suppose that's where Phobos gets his vanity from."

"I'm just saying – if the daughter takes after the mother. Don't hesitate to bring her here."

That brought to mind another question. How to get the princess into Meridian? He wasn't even entirely certain that he knew exactly how to get himself back to Meridian in one piece. Would the girl fight? Would she be like her brother?

Careful not to let these worries show, Caleb hoisted his travelling bag onto his shoulder, "Lucia said," he watched Baldorn carefully, "that I need to communicate with someone here. I choose you, Baldorn."

The older man's face never wavered, "I think that you should choose Aldarn." His voice was steady, his face was stoic.

"Why would you of all people volunteer Aldarn for this mission?"

"He is young. He needs to feel important. He is desperate to prove his worth. If you show that you trust him like this, his attitude towards you will surely change."

"Aldarn is also young, rash, angry and foolish. I can't risk it."

"There are many other men here who will be watching him. We will ensure that he doesn't do anything foolish. Sometimes Caleb, a leader must make a decision like this to save the trust of his followers, and not just their lives."

..............................................................................

Aldarn had been willing, apologetically so. Caleb was still unsure about his decision, but he couldn't ignore the truth. This would surely benefit him, in the long run.

They had found a young magician to complete the final steps of Lucia's enchantment. After that long moment of awkwardness where Caleb had heard with unbelievable clarity the curses and insults that Aldarn would have loved to have spoken – he had set off.

Luck had been on his side on that night. He had been headed South, that was where magic was the strongest and oldest, more importantly, it was here that the majority of rips had been spotted. He wouldn't have to wait long. Before him, not a quarter mile into the darkness was a light. A massive blue light that simply beckoned to his weary mind.

He broke into a sprint, his blood pumping, muscles trembling and mind whispering prayers to whoever would listen.

_Good luck, my friend. _

It was Aldarn's voice before the cold numbness of the magic. It polluted his very soul with fear, but it only lasted a second. In the next moment, he was unbelievably hot and he was falling, tumbling down a dry slope while a white light above him burned constantly.

.........................................................................................

Will had tried to ignore the gangly boy that had been at the pond when she had arrived. But it was easier said than done. Especially since the young man didn't seem to want to be ignored. For one thing, he had come to the pond fully dressed and toting around a massive backpack. Secondly, he had spotted Will and had rushed toward her, brandishing a badge clearly taken from a child's policeman set and attempting to push her off of the premises.

A solid blow to the bowels had cut out that behaviour.

"But... S-Seriously...Y-You can't be here."

"It's public property moron."

"But," Still winded, Eric attempted to stand straight in order to give himself some sort of advantage against this little girl with the heavy hands, "We're doing very delicate investigations here. It's dangerous."

"I'll bet."

"What? Don't you believe me?"

"Let me think." Will tapped her finger against her chin, "No!"

"All right." Eric pushed out his chest, "You can stay. You just need to maintain a minimum three to four feet away from the water's edge."

"You're an ass."

She walked away after that, intending to strip off her jeans and go for a few laps about the pond when something from across the other side caught her attention. Someone was rolling down the bank!

The boy was still chattering on behind her when Will asked, "Do you see that?"

The idiot behind her had the audacity to ask, "See what?"

The person never stopped, they rolled completely into the water causing a giant splash, and never resurfaced. "Someone just fell into the water!" She was already pulling off her sneakers and jeans when the boy began shrieking behind her. "That splash! No! You can't go into the water!"

He had actually begun touching her again, pulling at her hands so that she nearly fell down, "Don't touch me!"

"No, you don't understand!" He watched, horrified, as she rid herself of her T-shirt as well, "There are things in the water! It isn't safe!"

Dressed only in her camisole and shorts, Will ran, as quickly as she could with Eric behind her, and then dove into the water, using her arms and legs as best as she knew how, in order to propel herself to the other side.

It didn't take her very long to get to him. It was a boy, Will realised, that lay facedown in the water. A boy who was considerably bigger than she was. Still, she captured one of his immobile arms and positioned that about her neck, carefully, she pushed his head back so that his face was out of the water. Then, she began to pull the both of them towards the bank, having to drag her tired limbs and his dead ones onto the pebbles when they arrived.

He was just unconscious, Will discovered, there was a pulse. Carefully, she tilted his head back and pressed both of her hands on top of his diaphragm. Two repetitions later, it had worked. He coughed and sputtered, managing to get most of the water out of his lungs. She sighed with relief, smiling even as the boy before her started to stir awake.

He had incredibly green eyes, Will noticed, the discovery made her already erratic breath hasten, "Hey." Will licked her lips and pushed some of her sopping wet hair out of her eyes, "You all right?"

She had never seen someone look so confused in her life. Linking that to the fall, she smiled again, "you'll be okay. Just lay here for a while. Get your senses back together."

"You," he was staring, unabashedly staring at her, in a way that made her feel as though she had wronged him greatly, "You can see me?"

"Of course, I can see you." She wrinkled her nose, "just lie down, you'll feel better soon."

He had no intention of listening to her; in fact, he had already struggled to his feet, moving dizzily for the first few steps before whispering something – to himself. Now, she couldn't link that to the fall.

_She had rescued a crazy person. _

"Great," Will muttered, deciding to distance herself as much as possible from this guy, "well, look – Mister. I think you should go to the hospital, get your head checked out."

_Definitely get his head checked out._ "How can you see me?" God, he moved fast. He was in front of her again, his green eyes boring into hers until it became painfully uncomfortable.

"I don't know. Could it be because – you're right in front of me?" She rolled her eyes. There was no one in this town that was normal. Nothing like Heatherfield to make you miss Texas.

"What are you?"

"Jesus Christ." Will had long grown tired of this, she got to her feet and began to walk around the bank, actually preferring the company of her mother than either one of the lunatics that she had met today.

To her relief, moron number two, hadn't decided to follow her. Now, moron number one, had become incredibly quiet, watching her with incredible interest as she picked up her things. "What are you?" He asked finally, just as she had finished pulling on her shirt.

"The anti-christ," She smiled, "duh."

It was meant as a joke, but he actually seemed willing to take her seriously, "Oh look! For God's sake! You see that guy over there. Just make sure he goes to a doctor or something okay? I think he hit his head."

Eric's eyes followed her gaze over to the bank before settling back on hers, "what guy?"

"Are you kidding me? That guy! Brown hair, black shirt, green eyes! Seriously! Do you wear glasses or something?"

"There's nothing there."

Will clicked her tongue impatiently, she wanted to kill something, but she exhaled patiently instead, "fine. Whatever! I'm going home!"

Eric watched her go, pondering to himself. There was nothing special about that girl. She was human, definitely – not possessed. He had sensed a higher than normal energy level coming from her, but it hadn't been overwhelming, still, could that be it? Had she just seen a ghost? But psychics always knew the difference between the living and the dead. And her energy level wasn't nearly as high as YanLin – who could see demons.

Something didn't fit.

But he had seen the splash.

Had there been something there?

....................................................................

It was only that child who could see him, Caleb discovered as he had begun his journey around the village called Heatherfield. Everywhere he had been so far, people ignored him completely, often walking right into him during times when he hadn't been paying attention.

Additionally, this place was unbearably bright and hot. Yet, the humans didn't seem to mind. Perhaps this climate was pleasing to them.

_Have you found the princess yet, Caleb?_

Also, the communication with Aldarn was quickly becoming annoying. Aldarn would disrupt his thought process every few minutes asking the same question. "This place is strange, Aldarn. They have these empty tin monsters without teeth, with wheels and they carry them in their mouths at incredible speed! There are noisy silver birds in the sky! It's beyond magic! It's..."

_I can see what you see Caleb. Have you not found her? Caleb, it's been a day already._

"Impossible! I've not even been here for an hour and half!"

_You need to hurry. It won't be long before the spell wears off!_

Time moved slower on earth, clearly. Leave it to Lucia to forget about that fact. If she thought that he would pay her to renew the spell then she was wrong. Earth was so different than Meridian. It was nothing like the legends. Here, there was quiet, humans walked around cheerfully with small human children by their side. They would laugh. Even the sky was different. It was bright ad hopeful. Nothing like the endless black pitch that he was accustomed to. Even now, it had begun to grow dark and the sky had started to change from blue to purple. At least it was cooler now.

"I will need more time Aldarn. There are many persons in this village than I first thought. And if a spell rests on the princess, I am not certain that it will that simple to locate her –"

Or perhaps it had been.

_Caleb, have you found the princess yet?_

He thought of the red haired child who had pulled him from the water. He had brushed her off as a nymph or a faerie. Those things could exist on earth, after all. She certainly looked like one with her tiny features and small, pointed chin. It had made sense; her magic would allow her to see him. But what if –

_Caleb? Who is that girl you keep thinking about? Is that her?_

Had the Gods finally been kind to him? After all these years? Had it really been so simple?

_Caleb? Answer me!_

Never before had he seen hair that red.

"Yes. I've found her. I've found the Queen of Meridian."

...............................................

**To Be Continued**

**Author: **I'm really thrilled that you guys like this. I'm not used to writing this type of fantasy/action type of story so the fact that it is getting a positive response is very good for me. I had to split **beginnings** into two, simply because it was much, much too long. Phobos makes an appearance in the next one. As well as some kick ass guardian powers. I'll be introducing the guardians one by one in this story. Next one, in C is for...whatever C will be for, will be Irma, and depending on how I feel, I'll introduce Taranee and then Cornelia.

In part 2, we will witness Caleb's kidnapping of Will. More of Eric's meddling. The discovery of the missing girls. And much, much more. I still have to write that though. Hehehehe.

Reviews are always welcome. State anything that you'd liked cleared up!

And a special hello to Zadien! Great to see you girl! And if you haven't yet, read her awesome story, **Waking Dreams**.


	4. B is for Beginnings Part 2

La Dolce Vita

By Seniya

**B is for Beginnings**

**Part Two**

**Begin; to begin is half the work. Let half still remain; again begin this, and thou wilt have finished. **

**Decimus Magnus Ausonius**

The stranger that she had met at the pond stayed on Will's mind for the rest of the night. She wasn't entirely certain why – she considered for a moment that it might have been his startling eyes and broad shoulders, but she hated the idea that she could be so superficial – and finally decided that it had to have been his strange questions.

He'd hit his head obviously. And she'd be damned if she wasn't feeling incredibly guilty about the whole thing now. How could she have just left him there, especially in the care of that other bumbling idiot?

As a result, she'd actually gone back to the pond to look for him. Check on him, maybe make sure he ended up at a hospital. But he'd been gone already. She did hope that he was alright.

-------------------------

It was late into the evening when Will finally returned home. Her mother had been comfortably seated in front of the blaring television set, while happily chatting away on her cell phone. She looked up when Will came through the door.

"Wilhelmina, the power came back just as soon as you left. Jonathan said that it must have been a short – No, not you Simone, it's my daughter. Yes, daughter – remember, she'd been living in Texas with her father. Well, you obviously forgot because I am certain that I told you about her on many occasions. Wilhelmina, there's pizza in the fridge."

_Six months, six months_. This would clearly be a mantra that she would be repeating for the rest of her stay here. Deciding to postpone her shower in favour of her stomach, Will went into the kitchen, rumbling through the fridge, through the bottles of wine and vodka, before stumbling across the box of pizza.

Her mother continued talking to her friend, blurting out all the sordid details about her dad. The lights in the house flickered suddenly.

"He was the biggest mistake that I ever made – Oh God! Not again! I told Jonathan that it had to be something more serious!" Her mother was rising to her feet; Will could hear the sound of furniture shifting in the other room. She changed her mind from the pizza when the lights in the kitchen went off, quickly followed by the lights in the hallway. She reached into the freezer and took out some ice-cream instead.

The entire house was in darkness when her mother finally waddled from the living room, her hair in curlers and her toes pointed up in the air and separated by cotton wads. She plunged into a pile of clothes stacked up by the door and pulled out a fluffy zebra printed coat. She was half-way out of the door when she called out to Will, an afterthought, clearly, "Wilhelmina, I'm going down the street! I'll be back in a minute! Oh, Wilhelmina, please don't eat that for dinner!"

----------------------------------

Pistachio ice-cream wasn't her favourite flavour, but it would do. She was actually pretty relaxed now with her mother gone. The entire house behind her was plunged into complete darkness, but next door one of the neighbours was playing an old Jazz record. It was a nice feeling to be seated on the big swing set on the porch. Admittedly, it was much nicer than her old apartment in Austin where there had always been noises from next door and the traffic outside.

That was one good thing about Heatherfield; the quiet.

"Hello."

The voice beside her nearly made her jump out of her skin. The ice-cream carton fell from her hand and formed a puddle of green milk at her feet. Will got slowly to her feet, facing her guest head-on.

"Are you following me?"

It was the boy from the pond. The one she had rescued from the water today – although now she sincerely regretted her decision.

He didn't answer her, instead she watched as he placed his bag on the floor beside him. "My name is Caleb, I am the son of Julian of Etheren. I wish to speak with you –"

"Did you hear me?" Growing annoying at the stream of babble she had just heard, Will nearly screamed the next sentence, "I asked if you followed me here!"

"Clearly I had to have followed you here. It was incredibly easy actually." _Was he bragging?_ "You leave quite a distinguishable trail."

Was this guy serious? Speechless, Wilhelmina watched as he continued, "I was told that you would have some sort of spell on you that would make it difficult for you to be found. But it wasn't. Actually, it was like catching a lark fish – they're incredibly fat and slow but they think that they're very cunning. They always get trapped under stones and roots."

It was a good story. When he told it to girls in Meridian, they would smile and giggle and ask about more of his exploits. But this girl continued to stare at him as though he was diseased. He supposed it was because she was related to Phobos. She wasn't dangerous, he'd watched her long enough to determine that – but she did seem distant, bossy and cold.

"Stalking is illegal in most countries in the world. Even for crazy people like you!"

Stalking? That sounded like walking around on stilts – usually a game for young children. How was that relevant? "I still wish to speak with you. I believe that you can help me and my people."

"I'm calling the police. You're trespassing."

Will started to go into the house, but stopped when she realized that it would require her having to pass him.

"It's best that you not call for anyone until I'm finished speaking with you. I imagine that you will wish to say goodbye to your family and friends...but it is imperative that you come with me."

Oh God! "Listen to me. I don't know what's wrong with you – but I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Perhaps if you would stop talking long enough to let me speak."

The phone was dead. Everything in her house was dead. But maybe if she could get inside and lock the doors until her mother came home...

"You can't tell me what to do."

"It's for the best." He took a step forward and Will instinctively took a step backwards. His eyes softened, "you don't need to be afraid of me."

"I'm not afraid of you." But her back was still pressed against the wall, and she knew that he knew that she was lying.

He ignored her. "I won't hurt you. It doesn't look as though you have been hurt by these people, but they took you from your home when you were only a babe."

She had definitely had enough, her mind raced, coming to rest on a paragraph she had read in a novel a few years ago. It had been about this man who had been obsessed with this woman who had saved his life. He had thought that she had been his soul-mate. He had killed them both in the end.

She would be damned if she let the same thing happen to her. The girl in the book had been a dumbass anyway. Will edged closer to the swing, and while he had been explaining something about this King called Phobos, Will pushed the swing towards him, hoping to God that it would give him a concussion.

He hadn't been expecting that and Will took the opportunity to run past him and into the darkness of the house, pushing the door closed behind her. She wasn't fast enough; he was there in an instant, shoving the door open before she could run upstairs. She wouldn't let him catch her though, choosing to throw her mother's collection of vases at his head. He caught the first one in his hands, but the other two hit him dead in the chest. Mentally, Will concluded that her best chance was to run to the back of the house and go through that door. Maybe she could lose him outside.

He was there when she turned around. She gasped and he caught both of her wrists in his hands.

"Why are you being so difficult?'

Her eyes darted around wildly, but she couldn't see much in the dark. She needed to stay calm. Just stall him long enough until her mother came home with that guy.

How was he so impossibly fast?

"What—What did you say you wanted to talk about?"

"I'm from Meridian." She had stopped squirming in his arms, and he relaxed his grip a bit, feeling as though she had finally become reasonable. "It's another world, similar to earth."

"_Oh God_," It was almost a sob, and then she began to scream and kick and trash in a manner that was remarkably similar to a child throwing a temper tantrum. He pulled her closer to him, "stop that!"

It made it worse, she grew more frantic with each passing second.

She reminded him of a wild cat. Caleb tried to cover her mouth with one of his hands, but she only took the chance to try to scratch his eyes out. He had done nothing to provoke her! Why was she behaving like this?

"I'm growing tired of you little girl." She kicked him in his shin for the comment. He flinched but managed to keep his grip on her. "You shouldn't have done that."

He wasn't human. She had read enough _David Eddings_ and _Anne Rice_ to know that no one that moved that fast was human. This defied every single logical idea in her head but she still couldn't force herself to think of any other explanation. Was he a vampire? No, vampires couldn't come inside unless they had been invited – _Was she serious_? A vampire!

Will, get a hold of yourself!

He's crazy. That's all. He's just insane and a distant cousin of _Usain Bolt_.

Now that made sense.

"Are all earth girls as violent as you are?"

"Let me go!"

"I just want you to listen to me!"

"You're crazy! You aren't making any sense! You need help!" She wasn't above bribery, "if you let me go, when my mother gets home we can take you to the hospital. There are doctors there who help people like you." Lock you psychos up for a long time.

He wasn't fooled. "No, I've wasted enough time here with you. We can talk later. I'm taking you back with me."

"Are you deaf!" She could already see the newspaper headlines in her mind. _Another girl kidnapped_. Had he done this to the other girls too? "I'm not going anywhere with you!"

He made a sound and pulled away from her – staring at his hands and then at her face. She turned again, moving as quickly as she could, trying as hard as she could to make it up the stairs to her room. He cut her off at the third step. "How did you do that?'

Will fell when she backed down the stairs, he was behind her, pulling her to her feet in the next second. She tried to pull away, but he held her tight against his chest. "How did you burn me?"

"I didn't!"

He was quiet for a while after that. Thinking – maybe. All she could hear was blood in her ears and the hiss of her breath as it passed over her lips. "Are you gonna let me go?"

Will prayed that her voice didn't sound as desperate as she thought it did. She felt his fingers against her neck, heard his voice when he told her, "No."

And that was it.

.....................................................................

The lights in the house came back on after she had passed out. That had been difficult. He had scratches and bruises all over his body just as though he'd fought a forty year old man!

And just why was everything on earth so bright! Hades, he never thought he'd see the day that he'd miss Meridian.

Caleb had easily put her over his shoulder and carried her back outside where he had wrapped her up in his blanket. Then, he'd taken the bundle into his arms and carried her towards the pond, where he was certain that he would find his way home.

For all of the fight in her, she didn't weigh much.

The streets were deserted at this time of night. But it was still incredibly lucky that he wouldn't have to go that far.

A bright light was in the middle of the road—humming pleasantly—Caleb breathed a sigh of relief, maybe this was his lucky day after all.

-------------------------------------------------------

"She sure doesn't look like a booman," there were whispers all around her, but Will ignored them – her head hurt like hell – and she snuggled deeper into the soft pillows under her head. Until the poking began.

"I heard that boomans have wings and fangs."

"They're called _humans_. Not boomans. And don't touch it – you might get sick."

Will made a motion to smack away the offensive fingers but found that she couldn't move her hands. Her eyes flew open, meeting with the milky white eyes of – was that a cat? It looked like a cat. Except it was at least three feet tall and wearing a dress.

It screamed.

She screamed.

The door behind the crowd of cats and green things and bug people opened and in sauntered her captor. She stopped screaming instantly and instead she focused all of her attention on giving him the dirtiest look that she could muster.

"Mr. Caleb," the cat thing spoke, "the booman woke up."

"Iris touched it!" Said another thing that Will couldn't help but notice looked like a spider – eight legs included, "I told her not to! And it's called a human!"

"I told you not to touch her!" He began shuffling them out the door, "she's dangerous!"

The second that they were out more creatures entered, these ones were taller, but they were still the same array of green things and cat people. Was she in his bedroom? She was on a bed. A brown, furry bed. Tied up.

Inside the room was filled with papers and weapons. God, it was disgusting. Were the walls made of mud?

This certainly didn't look good for her. Or him. Will chose now that she had an audience to begin screaming again. "You sick fuck!" She tried kicking, but the ropes that held her were too tight, "where in the fucking hell am I?"

"Spirited one this," a thin white headed man spoke, "certainly hasn't been a good few days for Caleb. D'you see the side of his face?"

There was a rumble of laughter through the crowd gathered at the foot of the bed. Some stared; others looked upset, even more looked uncomfortable. The white haired man spoke again, "we should put this one in the front lines. She'd take down Phobos in a heartbeat."

"If you don't have an intelligent contribution to make then leave!" Caleb said, and the room fell silent immediately.

"Caleb, is she Phobos's sister?"

"She could see me through the spell."

"Are you sure that the spell even worked?" This came from a massive red haired man standing quietly at the back of the room, "that woman was..."

"She was the only one who could see me. Have you sent for Lucia?"

"Aldarn has gone to find her."

Caleb nodded absently, before focusing his attention completely on Will. Unnerved, she stared back. "How did you burn me?"

"I'll kill you if I ever get the chance!"

"Burn you how?" This was a woman, short, fat and wrinkled, "how is one burnt without fire?"

"It wasn't fire. I touched her arms and she burnt me."

"She's a witch."

There was a deep murmur of agreement from the crowd, before one man spoke up, "maybe all humans can do it. We do not know enough about humans to make a conclusion about how they should and should not act."

"It wasn't like fire," for the first time Will noticed that his hands were bandaged, and that he had several red welts across the side of his face, "it was like energy – a force – it pushed me away from her. And it burnt my hands."

"She is a witch." The woman repeated.

"Ask her how she did it," someone suggested.

"Would you all stop talking about me like I'm not here!" Will turned her head to face the crowd, "look lady, I'm not a witch so you can stop looking at me like if I'm wearing a mirror. And you," she looked at Caleb, "untie me right now or so help me God I'll castrate the shit outta you!"

"Always get the angry ones don't you Caleb?"

There was another voice from the door; this one was a woman's. Tall and dark skinned. She looked to Will, as though she should have been on a cover of _Elle magazine_. She was dressed differently from the others; she wore silk and furs while they were dressed in wool and Will could see some diamonds in her ears and in a broach that pinned her cloak together.

Caleb moved aside when he saw her, "is this her?"

The woman didn't answer him immediately; rather her gaze lingered on the crowd at the foot of the bed. "I've never been invited to your room before Caleb," she actually pouted, "but it seems that you've let the entire council in here."

If Will had thought that they'd looked at her badly – then this was appalling. Some even moved away into the corner of the room when came closer. She didn't seem to mind.

"Did you hear me Lucia? Is this the girl?"

"No." She hadn't looked, she hadn't blinked.

"You didn't even look at her!"

"Of course I did." She looked at Caleb earnestly, "look at the size of her feet. It's not her. I applaud the choice though. Aphrodite did have red hair, but she doesn't look like the Queen. Not even close."

"When I touched her, she burnt me."

"Now that," For the first time her eyes came to rest on Will's face, "is a completely different story."

"Tell it to me." Caleb seemed incredibly annoyed.

"Why is everything a struggle with you _witch_?" A man from the crowd hissed, no one spoke to support his outburst, but Will suspected that they all wholeheartedly agreed.

She ignored that as well, "I'd like to do this without the audience, if you'd please."

Caleb didn't protest, he simply made a motion with his hand and the group filed through the door. "Are you their leader?" Will asked, "Answer me! Is this a cult?"

"I don't understand her when she speaks. I don't know if you'll be able to. But she mostly screams a lot in any case."

"She's upset because you took her from her home and tied her to your bed." The lady shed her coat and walked over to the bed; she placed a hand on the ropes and whispered. They fell away instantly.

"How can you tell that?"

"It's common sense Caleb." The ones on her feet were next. "What's your name darling?"

Will could feel her inhibitions fading. Her hazel eyes were almost hypnotic, her lips parted before she could stop herself. "Wilhelmina. Will Vandom."

This close the woman looked even more beautiful. The lights from the torches on the walls highlighted her high cheekbones and the myriad of colours in her eyes. "That's a lovely name. I am Lucia, that's Caleb, but I suspect that you've already been introduced."

Caleb had already begun to protest, "She's impossible to reason with!"

"Be quiet!" Lucia hissed, her attention returned to Will. "You're very special Wilhelmina. Do you know that?"

"Where am I? Where are the other girls?"

"There are no others here, just you. You're in Meridian. It's another world. Just like Earth."

Will's forehead wrinkled. "I want to go home."

"You don't believe me?"

"I think that this is a joke."

Lucia smiled widely, "A game?"

"A dream."

"I'll make sure that you get home Wilhelmina. Let me tell you what you are first." She leaned in closer, Will could smell her flowery perfume. "You are a guardian of the veil."

"I don't know what that is."

"She can't be." Caleb was frowning, "the guardians are only myths. Besides, they are peacemakers and this girl doesn't have a peaceful bone in her body!"

"A bit of personality doesn't make the girl a villain Caleb." She made a motion with her hand and a goblet floated towards her, another whisper and it filled to the brim with a burgundy liquid. "I can feel your heart. It is strong. It is hurt."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your father is gone. You're all alone in this world because everyone has left you. Your grandparents died, your father left and your mother never cared. There are other children – oh, they treated you terribly, called you names and –"

"Shut up!" Will swallowed, "you don't know anything about me."

"I know that you care about people. Even after everything that they've done to you. That's admirable Will. That's why you were chosen."

"I want to go home."

"You don't have to be afraid. This is fate. Before you were even born, this was written in the stars. Caleb thought that he made a mistake by bringing you here, but it was destiny. You command the spirit of the heavens themselves. You are –"

"Just stop it!" Will staggered off of the bed, "take me home. Now."

"Lucia," the look on Caleb's face was pensive as her studied the two females in his chambers, "are you telling the truth? Is she really..."

"Drink this," she pushed the goblet into Caleb's hands, but her eyes never left Will's, "you will not disappoint me Wilhelmina. You are the answer to our prayers. _Dimidium facti est coepisse_."

The room was empty of occupants in the next instant.

-------------------------

"Nana." Haylin shivered against the bitter cold winds, "I really don't like this place." She had never been so cold or tired or felt so hopeless. This place was like a pit that sucked all of her hope away. It was dark and cold and barren. She wanted to go back home.

"Be quiet child. We're here." Her grandmother however seemed to thrive from it all. There was a certain jump in her step when she walked, and Haylin couldn't ignore the happiness in her voice. It could come from being right, a fact that her grandmother was happy to remind her of every ew seconds.

_Here_, was a cave. Darker, colder and more barren looking than anything that she'd seen so far in this wasteland. "Nana, we've been walking for days."

"I know. I thought that we'd never find it."

"Nana, it's a cave."

"I can see that." She cracked her knuckles, "let's get this done."

"Are you high? I'm not going in there!"

"It's just dark, there's nothing in there. Well maybe some rat-bats and there is definitely a sword and probably some land-crabs. They won't kill you! Stop being a baby!"

"Nana—I follow you around everywhere—but _this_—this is where I draw the line! I didn't even leave a note for Mom! And I didn't finish my homework – she'll kill me!"

The argument would have continued had it not been for the sudden appearance of a white light. Silently, Haylin watched as three persons appeared in the space beside them. Her grandmother, who had never been speechless from Haylin's memory, didn't see a reason to begin being quiet now. "Lucia, still alive I see."

"Yanlin," The dark woman's eyes flickered with annoyance, "and they say that humans die quickly."

"Do you have any friends, Grandma?"

"What are you doing here Lucia?"

"Same as you I suspect," she indicated the very upset looking red head behind her, "I've found a guardian."

"_Her_?" Yanlin frowned, "she's too young."

Will seemed to take offence, "I'm sixteen!"

"Really?" Haylin chirped, "You look thirteen to me. Doesn't she grandma?"

"Not a day over ten. What are you playing at Lucia?"

"I've never been wrong Yanlin. If the old age has taken your memory, I found both Cassidy and Nerissa. I found Felicia, Maria and Lucy before them."

Caleb stiffened, "what in the name of Hades is going on here?"

"And who is he? You can't just invite people here! It's supposed to be a secret! I don't even know how you found out about it in the first place..."

"This is Caleb," Lucia spoke calmly, "and I don't know where you think that you're going to Wilhelmina, but that's nowhere near home."

Will, who had taken everyone's preoccupation as an opportunity to sneak away, stopped in her tracks. "Look," she turned towards the foursome, "I know that I'm not the only sane one here! Well you," she looked at Caleb, "are hopeless, but come on! Other worlds! Monsters and saviours? Did I walk into the Sci-Fi channel?"

Haylin gave her a pitying look, "if you don't believe in other worlds then where on earth do you think that you are?"

"I dunno." She shrugged, "Detroit."

Yanlin shook her head, "All right. I'll go with it. She might be a guardian. What's she? Fire?"

"She has Nerissa's old element."

"That's interesting." Or the first time Yanlin looked at Will with something other than annoyance.

"I know."

"She can't be a guardian." Caleb looked irritated at having been teleported out of his rooms. "She is the most – unstable female that I have ever met. When she isn't trying to kill me, she's threatening to."

Seething, Will snapped, "You know what; I should have let you drown!"

"You didn't save me! I had the situation under control."

"Oh, that's rich! What would you have done then? Prayed that the tide took you to shore?"

"Silence!" Both mouths snapped shut, and Lucia turned to the entrance of the cave, "I'm getting very tired of the two of you."

"Well, let's get going. The sooner we get this sword the sooner things can begin getting back to normal." Yanlin began to walk to the cave, her granddaughter in her wake.

**------------------------------------------**

"Wilhelmina, come." Her feet were moving on her own, she couldn't stop them! When she opened her mouth to protest, there was no sound. She looked at Caleb and he seemed to be suffering the same fate.

"You're both being punished." Lucia said by way of explanation, "you're lucky that I don't just tie you together until you sort out your differences."

Will pouted, absolutely frustrated.

"So – " They were at least a hundred metres into the cave when the silence began to annoy Haylin's ears, "are you two related or something?"

It was a good thing that there had been silencing charms in effect, because the screams that both seemed desperate to make would have awoken the dead. "They just met." Lucia confirmed. "I brought him along because he will be working closely with the lot of you from now on," the darkness seemed to bother her, she clicked her fingers and a light appeared at the tip. "He's doing a good job of protecting Meridian. With your help he could actually stop Phobos."

"This place stinks," Haylin whined, because, well it really did. The smell of stagnant death hung like a cloak in a space that seemed to have no ventilation. It grew narrower as they walked along, until they were forced to walk in single file. "Nana, what crawled up here and died?"

"My youth," Yanlin chuckled, "God knows why Nerissa put the damned thing in here!"

"Did _she_ put it in here?" There was a rumble from further up in the darkness, Lucia stopped in her tracks. "Did you hear that?"

"Ugh!" Haylin had been pushed up against the wall when the procession had stopped, "what's this? Gross! Is this slime?"

Yanlin turned to give her grandchild a good shake but stopped when she saw what was on her hands. "Haylin, that's not slime. That's blood!"

The rumbling grew louder and Haylin shrank backwards colliding with Will, "I thought you told me that this was safe!" She yelled at her grandmother, who shushed her instantly.

"There isn't supposed to be anything in here."

"There wasn't – not the last time I checked." Lucia sounded genuinely confused; still, panic had yet to enter her voice. "Somebody's been in here."

"Maybe...Maybe it's just protection, so that no one can get to the sword." Haylin said.

"The sword needs no protection. It cannot be removed from the place where the last keeper placed it until the new keeper moves it. Anyone who tries risks death."

"So what's..."

"Haylin be quiet!" There was a click as Yanlin pulled out her revolver, the metal glistened slightly in the meagre light, and Will shifted uncomfortably when she saw it.

"Don't worry," Haylin whispered to the girl, "she always waves that thing around. She doesn't know how to use it."

Because knowing that the senile old woman didn't have an idea how to use the gun she was carrying made Will feel loads better. She rolled her eyes, wishing that she had stayed in bed this morning.

There was another growl from the darkness, this one sounded closer however, and Lucia raised her hand, pointing her finger straight forward, as though it were a weapon that she were aiming. "Are you ready Yanlin?"

The gun wet off by way of a reply—that was all it took. Something – something huge, came bounding forward on all fours, roaring and panting. Haylin screamed, Will ducked and Caleb watched as Lucia bellowed and in a flash of light the creature exploded.

It was raining monster pieces, one particularly large leg section hit Haylin on her head and she screamed. "For God's sake!" Yanlin yelled, for the downpour of body parts didn't bother her at all, "You are the guardian of the winds! Suck it up and stop the screaming!"

"What good is that Nana?" Will looked at the girl beside her, if all of this nonsense was true then they shared the same fate, "what if I don't want to do this – y-you never asked me if..."

Her protests were ignored, Yanlin had already gone ahead, prodding around at the thing's head, "what is this?"

Will's stomach was churning, her nerves felt frazzled and she wanted nothing more than to run away from this disgusting cave screaming. But the stupid spell held her steady. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of the head – her mouth fell open.

"Yes Wilhelmina," Lucia noticed Will's waving and after a moment she clicked her fingers together and allowed her to speak.

"That's a Minotaur." She blurted out.

"What's that? An earth beast?" Sadly, Caleb's voice seemed to have returned as well. "Lucia, you will not silence me again."

"You were saying Wilhelmina," Lucia said coolly.

"Yeah, I've seen it on TV! It was on the discovery channel..." Haylin put in.

"It's from Greek mythology. It's a monster with the body of a man and the head of a bull. He eats people. That's where the blood on the walls comes from."

"Well, he wasn't doing a very good job." Caleb quipped and Will quickly grew frustrated. "We're all still alive."

"His body's impenetrable. The only thing that can get through him is his own horn." Taking the passive route, Will decided that allowing herself to be heard was more important than cutting down that baboon.

"He's dead." Caleb indicated.

"Look, I'm just telling you how the story goes."

"It doesn't make any sense."

"I didn't write it." Her voice was clipped and short.

"Can we move on now?"

"Just cut off its horns – just in case."

"It's a waste of time! He's already dead."

"Hush!" And they fell silent again. Lucia waved her fingers and one of the long, curved horns severed and floated up to her hand. Will gave Caleb a pointed look. "These horns might be good for a spell – if nothing else."

"Let's go." And they pressed on.

-------------------------------------------------------

"Tell me about Phobos. How long has he been such a menace?" Yanlin had tucked away her pistol, now, they had been walking or what felt like an hour with no end in sight. There had been no more monsters or no more arguments; the only thing that had changed was the width of the passage – which had decreased considerably until the party had been forced to walk sideways.

"Are we there yet?" Haylin breathed, not for the first time and not for the last, she was ignored but the other two contributing members of the conversation.

"Phobos has been King since his father died around six years ago. That's not to say that his father did an amazing job either – Phobos is guiltier of selfishness, not real malice. His soldiers do as they please, he doesn't care enough to command them to stop."

"Here we are." Yanlin breathed, and it was like a breath of fresh air, literally, the smell of death melted away.

The cavern that they entered was completely different from the passageway. It was tall, wide, roomy and brightly lit. The walls appeared to glisten, as though they were made of glass or diamonds. The ceiling seemed to rise up forever, and in the centre of the room there was a stone, in that stone, was a sword.

"This is it," Yanlin was smiling; to her this was clearly some sort of accomplishment.

Haylin didn't seem to feel the same way, "this is it? This is what we've been walking forever to find?"

The sword itself was not spectacular. It was old, very old. It was stuck into the stone until about mid-way of its blade; a blade that was cracked and jagged. The hilt seemed to have lost much of its lustre, instead of looking gold – as it may have once – it was a rusty brown. Truly, the only interesting thing about this sword was a fat pink jewel in the hilt. That sparkled and glimmered like something special; that could take your breath away.

Lucia snapped her fingers, "Alright Wilhelmina, go pull it out."

"Then can I go home?"

"Is that all you care about?" Caleb had developed a habit of opposing everything that this little brat said. He still refused to believe that she was a guardian – refused to believe that she was anything more than a scrawny little redhead with an attitude problem.

"I wouldn't even be here if you hadn't kidnapped me!"

"Believe me, there isn't a single moment that I haven't regretted that –"

"Be quiet!" Yanlin snapped, looking tempted to pull out her gun again, "why does she get to go first? Why can't Haylin be the wielder of the blade of Kandrakar?"

"Yanlin, be reasonable, Nerissa commanded energy, she would have passed the blade onto the next person who –"

"We don't know that Nerissa put the blade here! It could have been Cassidy –"

"It doesn't matter who goes first. It could be neither of them. We could have to wait until we find the other girls."

"Then let my granddaughter go."

Haylin seemed oblivious, "Nana – I don't mid letting her go before me..."

"Go!"

The small brunette sighed heavily and took a few quick steps towards the stone, "do I just pull it out?"

"Yes Haylin, just pull it out."

She looked at the sword as though it were some great obstacle in her path, but after another glimpse of her grandmother's stern face, she clasped both her hands around the hilt and tugged. It didn't budge. She pulled again.

Nothing.

"Nana...I don't think..."

"Look...you're not doing it right!" The older woman rushed forward, Lucia frowned heavily, "Put your back into it. You've got to really want it!" She placed her arms around the girl's waist, she pulled too, "pull Haylin! With everything..."

"Enough! Yanlin, let Wilhelmina try."

Grudgingly, the old Chinese woman stepped away, "come along Haylin."

Will's steps were slower when she walked closer to the sword. She wasn't willing or interested. She only saw the pretty jewel in the hilt. That seemed to call to her with whispers that crept into the core of her very soul. The hilt felt cool to her touch, initially at least. When she wrapped her second hand around the first, the feeling warmed substantially.

Lucia was saying something, but it seemed so far off that she couldn't place it. She could hear voices, something cold ran along her spine, "_This isn't yours to take from me._" It was a deep, feminine voice, but only she seemed to hear it.

It was too late.

Will could feel it, it was roaring through her body like an electric shock. This power consumed her, it ate at her worries and inhibitions until there was nothing but raw excitement left in their place. This power was rushing through her, moving from the tips of her fingers to the soles of her feet – She was growing!

Her red hair tumbled past her shoulders – her limbs were lengthening, rapidly. Will opened her lips to scream, but no sound came forth. There was no pain. Nothing but wonder. Ribbons of white light covered her body, bathing her in a cold, white sensation.

When it faded – when the room quieted and dulled and her heart stopped pounding, Will finally believed in all the lore that they had been preaching to her.

Lucia was beaming, "Excellent Wilhelmina."

Caleb was speechless.

The stone had vanished; Will held the sword in her hand, at a complete loss for words.

"Caleb, you will teach her how to fight with that thing." Lucia instructed, and he, too confused to say anything, only nodded in mute agreement.

Her eyes drifted over to Haylin, who had apparently endured much of the same treatment – she too was tall, and older looking. Her hair was longer, almost to her calves, and plaited around the top of her head in two identical buns. And she had wings!

Wings!

Will's mouth fell open, and she self-consciously felt her own back – finding nothing there. Haylin's clothes seemed different as well, she wore a green top that clung to her like a second skin but left her arms bare. There were ropes of purple fabric around her waist, and a long purple skirt that fell straight to the floor, but had two slits in the side, right up to her waist. She was wearing ballet slippers and knee high socks – and her face, seemed absolutely ecstatic.

"Look Nana!" She was squealing, already putting her wings to good use and hovering above the cavern floor, "I'm flying!" She twirled happily, but lost control after that, falling the ground only seconds after.

"You need to practice."

Will, couldn't get over the fact that she had hair. She kept running her hands through it, playing with the ends. "They both need training. Yanlin, can I leave it to you?"

Yanlin's eyes watched Will suspiciously, it was unnerving. "Yes, of course. I'll train them both."

"Then, we can leave." Lucia turned towards the exit.

"Do you see Wilhelmina?" Haylin was still over the moon, her excitement wasn't contagious though, Will still remained in shock, "I can fly! Wait – why don't you have wings?"

"I-I..."

"Ladies," the growling was back, louder and closer than ever before. There was something else too – something even more bone chilling than anything else before it. It was as if the lights in the room had faded, the happiness certainly had.

Will felt herself turning around to face the source of the disturbance – she met the cold grey eyes of a man.

He had long white blonde hair, his skin was freakishly white. His clothes were immaculate, white and clean. At his side there was a Minotaur, just like the one that was supposed to be lying dead in the passageway. "Hello Guardians. Not a full set, but you've already accomplished so much."

His voice was silky smooth and his words were pronounced with the greatest care. He stretched out his hand, "give the blade to me, little one. Or I'm afraid I'll have to give my little friend his evening meal."

"Don't give him anything Wilhelmina!" Lucia was screaming, she had her finger pointed directly at the intruder. Will had never seen her look so frantic. "Caleb! Yanlin! Get them out of here! I'll hold him off!"

"Will you?" Had she ever heard anyone sound so chilling?

Caleb was already pulling at her arm, "No! We can't leave her!"

"We don't have a choice!" He was pushing her through the passage way, Yanlin and her granddaughter were already down there – but Will was pushing in the other direction.

"No!" She shoved at Caleb's side, "we can't leave her with them! He'll kill her!" She could feel his intent. She had never been more certain of anything in her life. "He'll kill her!"

"Listen to me!" He shook her arm, pushing her along, "you need to protect that sword. There is nothing more important than that!"

There was a scream and a roar – the Minotaur had charged – "Caleb, _please_, we can't let her die!"

"She can take care of herself!" The passage had widened enough for him to begin to push her back, his hands pressed into her shoulder blades, "she's doing this to keep you safe – don't change that!"

Shaking her head, Will turned and ran, her heart growing heavier with every step, before her she could see the outline of Yanlin, Haylin was above her, her moth-like wings fluttering erratically.

This wasn't right! This wasn't fair!

She turned to plead one last time with Caleb's conscience—only to see that he was no longer behind her.

He'd gone back!

"Wilhelmina!" It was Yanlin's voice; she and Haylin were already outside.

Biting her lip, Will went to them.

"Now listen to me carefully Wilhemina," Yanlin was breathing heavily, Haylin hovered above them, "take that sword and think of home. Think of the street, the flowers – whatever it is that makes it as clear to you as possible and concentrate on nothing else!"

"Was that Phobos?" Will felt as though she were near tears, "Caleb and Lucia...they're still..."

"Listen to me dammit! Concentrate!"

Will closed her eyes and obeyed, she thought of her mother's house, of the swing set and the half dead flowers in the lawn.

"Now, raise the blade above your head and drag it down to the ground, don't stop thinking about home!"

She did as she was told, and when she opened her eyes again, there was a massive blue light before her. "W-What's this?"

"Haylin go!" The girl obeyed immediately, she flew through the light and vanished, "come on," she held onto Will's arms, "_now_, Wilhelmina, there isn't time!"

"We can't!" There were tears streaming down her face, she had never felt so helpless – it made her sick, "he'll kill them! How can you let them die? He'll kill them!"

Yanlin gave her a hard shake, "there will be harder decisions than this to make! Go!"

-------------------------------------------------

She pushed them both through the light – Will sobbing and thrashing the entire way. When they emerged on the other side, it was in the quiet of Heatherfield.

Haylin was already there – short, slim and in her pink t-shirt again, a worried expression on her face. The Jazz record from the house next door was still playing softly in the night and they were all standing in the midst of the dead sunflowers in her mother's garden.

The sword fell from her heavy hands and Will collapsed in a heap, tears fell from her eyes and bile rose in her throat, she retched.

"They'll be fine Wilhelmina."

"You liar!" Will hissed, she could taste the remnants of the ice-cream on her lips, "why didn't you help them! If we're the guardians then why didn't you let..."

The bright light vanished behind them, and Yanlin spoke, "What would I have done? And you two – you know nothing! Haylin can barely fly – you...you don't even understand what you're capable of!"

"So you let them die?"

"Do you see this?" She pointed at the sword that stayed still at Will's feet, "you need to get over this immediately Wilhelmina! _This_ is your world now! Nothing else matters! If this sword falls into the wrong hands, one or two deaths will be the least of your concerns!"

"Eric!" The tension in the garden snapped like a dry twig, Haylin called to the skinny youth who had just been running through the neighbourhood, "where...where are you going?"

"Didn't you hear?" His face was bright with excitement. He didn't seem to notice Yanlin's stern look or Will's tear streaked face. "The girls! They found the missing girls!"

He continued running, "I told you it was the Kappas!"

....................................................................

**Author:** Woooooooo! That was long. We got some guardians now. The girls will be all dressed in the new guardian look from the comics. I'll post a pic of that once I stop being so lazy and get on photobucket. Thanks again for all the comments. A special thanks to XV dragon who's been reviewing from the very start.

Anything you don't understand, feel free to drop me a line and I'll clear it up as best as I can.


	5. C is for Conspiracy Part 1

**La Dolce Vita**

**By Seniya**

C is for Conspiracy

_The complete lack of evidence is the surest sign that the conspiracy is working._

Part One

* * *

The morning came without much fanfare. The sun leapt out from beneath her night shawl, banishing ebony skies in a flurry of blues, purples and pinks. Starlight scattered and sunbeams descended.

It was the end of summer and as such, there was certain nostalgia in the dry breeze that descended from the line of mountains up north. A wistfulness that could neither be placed nor ignored.

Something was in the air. Perhaps it was something that had always been there, but today, it was stronger, almost tangible.

_Something_ was definitely coming.

* * *

She hadn't slept well last night.

Maybe she had dozed off for an hour – two at most. Maybe.

As a result, there was no way to convince herself that any of the wild images now permanently running across her frazzled mind weren't real. There were the screams that echoed endlessly in her brain, the deep yellow eyes that stared whenever she dared to close hers. However, worse than those two combined was the worry that plagued her heavy heart.

Guilt wasn't something that settled. All through the night, her stomach had churned as though it were filled to the brim with bees. She felt sick. Sicker than the bile in her throat and the numbness in her limbs. Sicker still, every time her eyes drifted over to the corner of the bedroom that wasn't quite hers, and saw the golden hilt of that troublesome weapon glinting maliciously back at her.

* * *

This wasn't fair.

It couldn't be real.

How did one go from the realm of relative teenaged normalcy to a world of parallel universes, Greek myths and destinies? How did that old Chinese woman and her granddaughter really expect her to absorb all that had happened so docilely? To just go to sleep, wake up and then what? Do it again?

To not worry? To become some self sacrificing hero?

Not for the first time, the idea came to Will to run. There was nothing holding her here. Nothing but the strings of expectation that others had tried to tie her limbs with. She wasn't obligated to anyone. No one would care if she left.

Yet ...

She stayed still.

She couldn't leave without knowing. Lucia and Caleb. Were they alive? Had either of them survived?

The guilt in her stomach lurched again.

If anything happened to either of them, it would be her fault.

* * *

There was a thump at the bedroom door. A tired sounding voice followed by another thump. Susan. Usually, a meeting with her mother, especially one at such an early hour would have sent Will into hours of agitation, but right now she couldn't even muster the urge the turn her back to the entrance.

The door opened, allowing the aroma of lotion and hairspray to enter. God bless her mother, Will thought sardonically, the human beauty parlour, even at six in the morning.

"Wilhelmina!" She hadn't bothered to whisper, "there are some people at the door looking for you." The word "people" had been spoken in such a manner that Will knew these guests weren't the social type. Interesting. She didn't know anyone here – except for –

"Who?" But already she knew. Still flat on her back, staring at the ceiling, her stomach churned unhappily once more.

"The Heatherfield Welcoming Committee." Wilhelmina was still fully clothed, sneakers and sweat all over her Egyptian Cotton sheets. Susan resisted the urge to scream, "They're new." And early, she thought to herself, but didn't press the issue any further. "They say it's important."

Like hell it was.

Heatherfield had a welcoming committee did it? The mess of emotions in her stomach seemed to merge in that instant, forming one all together too familiar sensation. Anger.

In one easy motion Wilhelmina got to her feet, the tiredness that had been for hours tugging at her mind seemed to vanish. All of her senses were focused on that doorway, waiting, adrenaline fuelled, for what she knew was coming. Last night she had been in shock, she'd been afraid and she hadn't been able to give the pair the proper beating down that they deserved, but today was different.

"Don't let them in." Her voice had taken that dead calm her mother hadn't yet come to associate with resolution. Her father would know. Her grandparents would. Her mother couldn't. She would learn.

Her feet were unsteady, her heart was knocking so hard against her chest that it threatened to shove her over. "They're in the hall Wilhelmina." Susan stayed still, watching her daughter with a strained look on her face, "This is Heatherfield. We don't leave the neighbours outside to rot."

Rot? They would do so much more than rot.

Forgetting her mother, Will reached behind the door and grabbed the sword by its glistening hilt. Just as she remembered, that ice cold sensation covered her from head to toe and the resolution grew stronger. "Wilhelmina Vandom! Is that a sword?"

Mind made up, Will walked steadily downstairs. She'd force them to take her back to that place. There, she could – do something. She took the stairs two at a time, feet noiseless against the white carpet; her mother, on the other hand, behind her screaming all the way. Her grip on the hilt tightened and she pointed it forward, jabbing the air for emphasis as she yelled. "Listen to me to dirty little bitches. You are going to take me back to where-ever-the-fuck-land and we are going to ..."

Her voice trailed off, the sword dropped to her side. Standing before her in the florescent foyer were two little old ladies. Floral dresses and hairnets. Salt and pepper hair and bifocals. Sandals and white ankle socks. Both with their mouths dropped open, their shivering hands gripping their peach cobblers for dear life.

"Um ..." Will wasn't sure what to say, an apology was in order. Or was it? Who was to say this wasn't a disguise!

She was a second away from knocking off the first woman's hair net before her mother came up behind her and whacked her across her head. "Mrs. Hale, Mrs. Devonish – I cannot tell you just how sorry I am."

Upon seeing Susan, their expressions changed from fear to outrage. Cloudy eyes shifted from mother to child and clearly, drew the same conclusion. The genetics in this family left much to be desired. They spun around as quickly as the arthritis would allow and slowly began to limp their way towards the door.

"I'm sorry," Will felt obligated to apologize, it wasn't their fault at least, although the bubbling anger hadn't ceased. "I-I ... I thought you were someone else."

Her mother was far more vocal in her regret, "She's just having some troubling adjusting that's all. Mrs. Hale – don't tell your daughter about this, please! I-I ... Don't you want to come in and sit for a while ... I could put on some tea."

The opening and closing of a door was the only answer she was to receive. Will, shifted uncomfortably. She'd let her emotions cloud her judgment. That had been a stupid move, waving the sword around. She really didn't know what it was yet. Still, she needed to find those two –

"Do you realise what you just did?" Susan stormed back inside, her curlers had loosed, her face looked pink and strained. When she spoke her hands moved wildly, grabbing at the air, "This will be on the front page of tomorrow's paper mark my words!"

"I said I was sorry."

"Where did you even get that thing from?" Her dark eyes lingered on the weapon. It left much to be desired Will knew; old and rusty with a jagged and damaged blade. The only immediate threat seemed to come from hepatitis. "Is that Thomas'?"

"No."

"Then where did you get it if your father didn't give it to you?"

"I found it."

"Well, un-find it. Quick. I don't what that thing in my house." She had turned away from Will, gone into the kitchen and started to rummage through the cupboards. A few seconds later came the smell of cigarette smoke. "God, I never wanted to start smoking again." She trotted outside and back into the coat cupboard by the door, the stench of nicotine trailing behind her.

Her Dad had smoked too. He usually to ask her permission before though. Will, clutched her sword tighter, intending to shuffle back upstairs and hide it beneath the bed. "Here," her mother carried a guitar case in her hand, "Put it in here, then take it outside and get rid of it."

Will froze. "What?"

"I was serious about that thing, worse now how you're threatening people with it. Get rid of it." Will could see the reasoning behind that; the police if they came, you'd dump the weapon, clean up the scene of the crime. A weird line of thought for a sixteen year old girl, Will knew.

"Okay." She was taking it well, her mother. Will didn't want her to start screaming at her again, she had other things to deal with. She knew exactly where she'd dump it.

* * *

"Okay, okay!" Someone was kicking down her restaurant door. "We don't open until one!" Swearing under her breath, Yan Lin pulled off her rubber gloves and willed the stench of rotten eggs away before pulling open the door.

Will stood on her step, looking hassled, her short red hair sticking up in every-which-way, besides down. She had on a wife beater and jeans, flip flops – and more interestingly a guitar case slung across her chest.

Yan Lin rolled her eyes, "If I don't get one who won't knock, I get one who likes knocking too much."

"Gonna invite me in?"

"We were just coming over to get you, actually." She moved aside. Will passed her by, her eyes taking in the simple interior, decorated with plastic tables, wrought iron chairs and paper lanterns. "Had an emergency this morning." Yan Lin closed the door behind her, and the wide room was plunged into an eerie red light.

The smaller lady moved quickly, dodging around chairs and tables with practised ease, before disappearing completely around a dark corridor. "Watch your step, there're stairs."

Down the stairs, around a bend and down another long corridor, all buried in darkness. The place smelled awful, smelled like age and decay and smoke. When Will opened her mouth to speak, the smell flowed over her tongue – tasted like rotten eggs.

"We need to talk about last night."

"I suspect that's the Blade of Kandrakar in that case. Good way to carry it. Cassidy used to carry it in her cello case."

"Did you hear me? I said we need to talk about last night –"

"I heard you."

For all the age the place seemed to emit, there was a distinct lack of dust. It seemed like someplace that was often used, even cleaned. At the end of this corridor, at the left, was a very bright room and that's where Yan Lin went into.

"We need to go back and find that guy and Lucia. It's not that we just left ..."

Will froze. It took some time for her eyes to adjust to the bright light, but even after that, there was no mistaking what she saw. Rather, who.

His eyes were bloodshot, his face scarred almost beyond recognition. There was blood on his shirt, bruises on his hands and his long brown hair was soaked until it coated his scalp. He was sitting at a table, in front of him was a giant ceramic bowl that hissed and steamed, from it came all the smells which Will had previously attributed to the room.

When she entered, he looked up, and through his bruises, he frowned.

Will stammered, feeling ridiculously happy to see that he was, at least, alive in the most basic sense. "Where's Lucia?" She heard herself ask. His frown didn't disappear.

"She brought him to us early this morning." Yan Lin had put her gloves back on, "Put your head back down!" Before he could even think to reply, he was shoved face first into that disgusting liquid.

"What's that stuff?"

"Home remedy. It'll fix his face."

The room they were in was cool, owing to the presence of a standing fan off in the corner. The walls were white and filled with bookshelves, although not many books were on them. Instead there were endless jars, filled with reptiles and birds. There were ingredients; slimy, nasty looking stuff that had seemingly jumped off the pages of Harry Potter.

It was probably best not to ask.

Seeing Caleb here was a definite relief. The knots in her stomach seemed to lessen considerably. "You can sit Wilhelmina."

Will watched for a while as Yan Lin took a cloth and pressed it against Caleb's neck. Then she rushed off to the shelves and plucked down a few more jars. Caleb, for his part, held his face up out of the water, sputtering – Will noticed that at least now, it looked a lot less red. She saw a bar stool at the side of the table, with her guitar case still on her back, she sat.

"Where is the blade?" He gasped.

Will frowned; his gruff voice reminded her of all the injustices she'd been through because of him, she snapped, "I have it."

He muttered something with all that white ooze dripping along his face, it hadn't been spoken in a language she understood. But Will had heard enough rap monologues and watched enough Cinemax to know what he'd said hadn't been nice.

"What happened to your face?"

"What do you think happened, little girl?"

"I'm not a little girl."

"Obviously." He snorted, then raised his bruised hand and brushed his hair from his face, flexing his fingers before he reached for a bottle of what appeared to be whiskey. "You need to give that sword to me. It isn't safe with you. Anyone could come and just snatch it –"

"Down!" Yan Lin was back, this time with snails in hand, she shoved Caleb face first into the bowl. "The Blade of Kandrakar is always safe with its keeper." She gave Will a sideways look, "Wilhelmina has proven herself to be the keeper."

From beneath the foaming mists, she heard Caleb's grunt of disagreement.

"I don't want it." Will muttered.

Yan Lin's eyes widened. "I beg your pardon."

"I said, I don't want it." Caleb raised his head from beneath the ooze, "I-I ... There's been a mistake. I came here to bring it back. Maybe ... you could give it to your granddaughter ..." She trailed off, feeling guilty; obligated.

"It isn't that simple." She patted Caleb on the shoulders, and passed him a towel, "that blade chose you. I'm afraid you don't have much of a say in the matter. If you hadn't wanted it, you shouldn't have touched it."

"It's a sword – how could it choose me?"

"Lucia didn't tell you?" Yan Lin looked smug and then she turned to Caleb and smacked him hard across the back of his head, "You didn't tell her?"

"She's not a guardian! The guardians are old women. Either that or they're all long dead."

"So, what? There can't be new guardians?"

"Well, if she's the standard for entry," Caleb dried off his face and glowered at Will, who glowered back, "Meridian is doomed."

"You can go fuck yourself." Will yelled, before Yan Lin smacked her too, she held the empty jar of snails in front of her face, "There's no swearing in my house. From either of you. This is a swear jar, I think you both owe me fifty cents. Or four snails, whichever is easier for you."

"I don't know what a guardian is." But she was quick enough to realise that it probably involved that white haired man from last night, and that dark, dreary, hopeless place. "I can't even believe this is happening to me."

"It's a bit overwhelming, I can understand."

Overwhelming was an understatement. Yesterday, she had been introduced to the existence of parallel universes, evil princes, magic and destiny. How was she supposed to reconcile this?

"I'm only here for six months. Until my dad ..." She trailed off. No, they didn't need to know all of that.

Yan Lin didn't ask. "The shit hole you went to last night is called Meridian."

"I thought you said no swearing," Will said.

She found herself with another sharp smack being delivered to the side of her head, "There's no smart mouthing either! That costs a dollar and nine snails!"

"Whatever."

"Meridian can look better. It doesn't often but it can." Yan Lin spoke quickly, Will guessed that this would be her briefing, "Earth and Meridian are separated by the veil, there is a balance of good and evil on both sides that must be maintained. It is not your duty to protect Meridian. It's your duty to protect the veil, from both sides. Right now, Meridian is out of balance but back in the two world wars, Earth had too much evil and the imbalance was on our side. You understand."

It didn't make a lot of sense, but Will took the explanation as she heard it. "Who had the sword before me? You told me about Cassidy – but last night you talked about Nerrissa?"

Now, Yan Lin spoke slowly, as though she were searching for the words to explain, "Nerrissa was chosen by the blade. She wielded it for a long time, but ... she grew ..." She bit her lip, and dragged the jar of snails along the table, "It was given to Cassidy after that, and now it's yours."

"But you said that Nerrissa left the sword in the cave. Not Cassidy. Well, actually, you said that you didn't know who had left it. Why didn't you know?" She had a good memory, if nothing else to her credit.

Yan Lin clicked her tongue. She didn't look away, she wasn't afraid of telling Wilhelmina the truth. She had had years and years to go over the events that had led to the dissemination of her group of Guardians. "Nerrissa wasn't like you Wilhelmina. There was never any question in her mind that she wanted to wield that blade. It was her life. When they took it away from her ... Well, she did everything in her power to get it back."

Will bit her lip, she could feel the weight of the sword in the case on her back. It wasn't very heavy; probably ten or so pounds but metaphorically, Will figured it was probably the heaviest thing she'd ever touched. "Where is she now?"

"The Oracles, they're the ones who made the veil, the Heart of Kandrakar and everything else. They choose the Guardians as well. They locked her away in a prison for treason. That was years ago. I-I imagine she probably died in there."

"Sad story," Will mumbled.

"Everyone has their sad stories," Will jumped at the sound of Caleb's voice. She looked up to see him standing in front of her on the other side of the table. His face was all better, although his hands weren't. He'd dried himself off and was frowning at her deeply. "If you truly believe she is the keeper of the blade, then I will teach her how to use the sword."

"I told you that I don't want to –"

"What you want doesn't matter! There're bigger things in this world than you!" His green eyes flashed dangerously.

"You can't make me," There was defiance in her voice, on her face and in her blood, but already her heart was weakening. She could feel herself growing weaker.

"You are a selfish little girl!" He wasn't much older than her, Will could tell, although he acted like it, sounded like it, "Do you have any idea what will happen if you refuse to do this?"

The tension in the room grew tighter, wrapping itself around throats and tongues. Will rose to her feet, intending to put this overgrown boy-scout in his place, but she was stopped by a merry little voice, like the tinkling of bells.

"I'm ready to go over to Lydia Boyce's house!" It was Hay Lin, dressed in a trench coat and newsboy cap. She was her own literal interpretation of a reporter, obviously. "I have some really good questions to ask her. See, I watched Diane Sawyer interview Rihanna." She paused, pulled out a notebook and became serious, "How did that make you feel."

Her grin faded as she looked around the room at all the serious faces. "What's wrong – Hi Wilhelmina! I like your shirt!"

"Well it took you long enough to get ready," Her grandmother scolded.

"I wanted to look convincing," She chirped, Will had never seen someone so happy, "Caleb, your face looks so nice now! Yay!"

"Well, hurry up and go over there and tell me what you see." Her grandmother looked to Will next, "Why don't you go with her. Keep her out of trouble."

"Yeah, come with me Wilhelmina! It'll be so fun!" She was bouncing up and down like a little bird. It was no wonder why she could fly in her Guardian form. "What do you know about zombies?"

Will's mouth dropped open, "Zombies?"

"Go along." Yan Lin was already distracted by putting away bottles and cleaning up the ooze, "And hurry up, no dawdling!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Hay Lin grabbed her new friend, at least in her mind, by the hand and pulled her out the down. Chattering about everything and anything as she moved effortlessly through the darkness.

This, Will knew, would be interesting.

Back inside the brightly light room, Yan Lin turned to Caleb, who stared at the empty doorway with an expression of almost complete ire. "What did she do to you?"

He shrugged his shoulders and flinched almost immediately, "Well, forgive me if the supposed saviour of the world doesn't stand a chance against Phobos."

"They need to be trained."

"We don't have time to train anyone!" He snapped, "Especially people who haven't made up their minds yet!"

"She was chosen for a reason Caleb." Yan Lin carried all her dirty belongings over to a standing plastic sink in the corner, "Last night in the cave, she wanted to go back." She shook her head slowly, "Couldn't do a damn thing but kill me dead, she wanted to go back."

Caleb's expression changed from one of anger to one of confusion.

"That has to mean something."

* * *

Had Meridian always been so cold? In truth, Phobos couldn't remember. Most of his childhood had been spent in his bed chambers, with this temperature and comfort always carefully monitored. Sometimes it surprised him to see the skies outside so dark and foreboding, to see the moons so eerie and large. But only sometimes.

Most of the time, he didn't care enough to notice.

Last night he had been excited, but foolish, oh so foolish.

The Blade of Kandrakar had been removed from its resting place. The magic he'd cast on the cave had alerted him to that fact. So he'd gone to the caves to confront the keeper. Foolish, oh so foolish. He should have sent his army instead. He'd forgotten he'd had an army. Foolish, so foolish.

She'd been afraid. Hair like fire, eyes like a lamb. Pretty child, small, so small. He should have chased after her, she was what he wanted, what he needed. He'd become distracted by that idiotic rebel boy and that black skinned witch. She had been gone by the time he was finished with the pair of them. Then, they'd escaped as well. Foolish, so foolish.

Now, he had nothing.

She would be back. Little crimson haired child. Salvation. Sweet salvation.

He would get her next time.

Next time. Next time.

He sat comfortably in his throne, wrapped in furs and blankets. The gold on the throne made it cold. Cold like his father's heart. He mustn't get too cold. Cold made his blood worse, made him sicker. Brought that spectre of death even closer. He laughed to himself, delighted by the echo his voice made in the cavernous room, he'd escape death, his father couldn't, but he would.

He would. He would.

* * *

**Author:** Oh gosh guys, please don't make me feel bad about the updating thing. I try, I do.

School is awful, there are no words. I'm on winter break now, so I'm trying to do as much as possible. The next chapter will be up as quickly as I can write it. Next chapter we get into the meat of the matter, zombie hunting and such .

I don't really have a full fledged plot to say. Just a general idea of where this is going. That's been another reason for the delays – but I'll work it out. Suggestions are always welcome.

Happy 2010!


	6. C is for Conspiracy Part 2

**La Dolce Vita**

**By Seniya**

C is for Conspiracy

Part Two

_"Any writer, I suppose, feels that the world into which he was born is nothing less than a conspiracy against the cultivation of his talent."_

_James Arthur Baldwin_

To Will, Heatherfield would never seem real. It was too bright, too clean, too over flowing with friendly neighbours and questionable good intentions. It looked as though it had been plucked out of an Anne of Green Gables book, as though it hadn't been changed since its founding in the last century. It was small town America, simply put. As far as the eye could see there were rows and rows of Victorian styled houses with wrap around porches and ever-green lawns.

She was a big city girl, through and through. She'd grown up in Austin, Texas, in an apartment the size of some of these people's living rooms with four other people. And as far as she was concerned, she was far better off because of it.

* * *

You could not hate Hay Lin. It was impossible to even try. Although, Will thought, she had tried. She was so happy, so cheerful. She behaved like a puppy just freed from the pound as she skipped, yes skipped, along the streets of Heatherfield dressed in her trench coat, chattering contentedly all the while.

"So you really don't know anything about zombies?" Hay Lin asked mid-jump.

"Um," Will shrugged and shuffled her feet a bit, "Just what Resident Evil taught me." Being next to Hay Lin was making her feel guilty about being so quiet and down, even if it was her natural behaviour.

"Oh yeah," The other girl twirled, "I love, love, love that game," She paused dramatically in the middle of the sidewalk, "Leon!" She laughed, "I only played it once 'cause my mom says that video games will distract me from my schoolwork but I loved it."

Hay Lin stopped to shift her pink messenger back from one shoulder to the other. "I guess that's everything you really need to know, except that zombies are made from magic in real life and not, you know, biological warfare."

"Why do I need to know about zombies anyways?" Will, thought she was taking this all quite well, given the situation. She was being very calm, asking questions instead of screaming.

"Because you're in Heatherfield. Geez, there's everything here! Zombies, vampires, demons, werewolves, demon-vampires." She shuddered. "My grandma and I fight them off, well, her more than me. I'm just an apprentice."

"Fight them how?" It occurred to Will that Hay Lin was in the same position as she was. She had powers – she could fly! But she didn't even seem to care. This was almost normal to her. She wasn't protesting, she wasn't attempting to run away. "With this sword thing?"

"No," Hay Lin replied, "Spells mostly. Potions and stuff. I guess the sword might help, it's supposed to be magic ... Um, I guess we'll see."

"Right." Weird, weird, weird. "So, where do these zombies come from?"

"Somebody has to make them. It's black magic though. You're not supposed to do that." She reached into her messenger bag and took out a black book which she flipped through quickly to find a page. Then, she passed it to Will. "You use a spell to bring someone's corpse back to life. The magic makes them like a puppet, but it keeps them alive. Last year, this lady in Canada did it when her daughter died."

"So, it only works on dead people." The book Will had taken wasn't written in English, but it was so full of illustrations that it didn't really need to be read. Inside, there were endless drawings of people with detailed lines across their bodies and faces.

"Yep."

"Lydia Boyce," The name was so familiar, even as Will said it out loud, "She's one of the girl's that got kidnapped."

"Yep."

"You think she's a zombie?" Will stopped in her tracks, her stomach dropped to her knees, "You think that she's dead?"

When Hay Lin turned around to face Will, she looked sadder, softer, but her words were simple, "Yeah. All of them actually. When you go missing in Heatherfield – you don't come back."

* * *

The Boyce residence was far back the main street. There was a large front lawn scattered with colourful plastic toys but not so many flowers. There were lots of trees though, lots of leaves and lawn trimmings that hadn't been raked since this house's daughter had gone missing.

Behind the house was a pond, as a result, off to the side was a bright blue boat, parked up like how a car would be. It was a small house, well kept and brightly painted in yellow and green. As they walked up there was the sound of children, screaming and running along the wooden floors.

Hay Lin pressed the doorbell. "We're just gonna make sure she's a zombie. You know, ask a few questions and see if she exhibits zombie behaviour."

"What's zombie behaviour?" Will whispered back.

"You know, chewing on stuff, wandering around aimlessly, moaning."

The front door opened in the next instant, revealing a pretty, plump black woman wearing an apron. "Hello, Hay Lin!" her accent was distinctly Caribbean and her face was the essence of motherly warmth, her pretty hazel eyes passed over Hay Lin and lingered on Will suddenly, "Well, hello there little missy," the accent had changed to something strictly country, "you new here?"

"I'm Will. I just moved –" Will tried a small smile, outstretched her hand for a shake but received at big hug instead. She smelt like flour and sweat.

"Well, I'm Jessica. You can call me Jesse if you'd like."

"Miss Jesse is the best!" Hay Lin chirped, "Are you making cookies?"

"Well, I swear you can just smell my baking from a mile away!" She moved from the doorway, "come in, come in!"

They followed wordlessly into the small living room which, although small in size, was crammed with all sorts of decorations, pictures and satin flowers. "You here to see Lydia?"

"Yeah, the newspaper wants to run a story," Hay Lin answered as Will looked around. There were countless pictures of this family, of all the kids, some cousins, older relatives. In some big picture frames were the four children, hung with care on the wallpapered walls. Lydia was the first one she saw. This was the picture they had used in the poster, the one with her big green eyes, freckles and golden skin. She looked so happy, so friendly; so young.

"You have no idea how many people have been here since last night," The friendly voice echoed from in the kitchen, followed by the heavy, sugary smell of baking. "Everybody's been wanting to know just how Lydia's been doing, but I've mostly been letting her sleep."

"Has she been sleeping a lot?" Hay Lin asked.

"She's been in her room since she came back home, resting," Her voice had taken on a tired edge to it. "I just don't know what my poor child has been through ... I-I ... I figure that she'll want to talk, but when she's ready."

"We can come back later," Her mother didn't have this. No pictures of her on the walls, no family scenes on the beach with her grandparents and cousins. This woman cared for her children, to find out her daughter was dead – that a corpse had been walking around in her house, would devastate her.

"Wilhelmina!" Hay Lin hissed, "We haven't found anything out yet!"

"We can't tell this woman that her daughter is dead! It'll kill her!"

There was a shuffling from inside of the house, the sound of hurried footsteps followed by the sight of two curly haired twin boys; their wild giggles were accompanied by a song, "Lydia is stinky! Lydia needs a shower!"

"Leroy! Lawrence! The two of you better go to your room until your father comes home! Can't you see I have guests! Go inside and stop bothering your sister!"

The twins jumped but obeyed instantly, pushing past Will's legs in their hurry to go inside their room. "I'm not staying!" Holding onto her case's strap, Will prepared to walk out the door.

The smell stopped her. It was nasty, God awful, pungent. It sank in through her nose, moved over her tongue and slipped into her stomach. It was disgusting; the perfume of rotting flesh and burning dogs. And then, footsteps.

The footsteps dragged heavily against the wooden floor, the stench dragged along with it. Against her better judgment Will turned around and came face to face with the girl from the picture.

She wasn't smiling. The sparkle in those green eyes was gone. Her skin looked like putty; her limbs seemed heavy and stiff. There were sores on her face, ones that didn't look like they would heal.

She dragged herself into the living room and sat heavily down on the sofa. She didn't move again.

Her head had sort of dropped off to the side, as though it was taking too much energy for her to hold it up. Hay Lin didn't waste a second. She scrambled over and pressed her fingers against Lydia's wrist and then her neck. She shook her head in Will's direction, signalling the negative.

The pity didn't get a chance to enter Will's system as Jessica Boyce hustled into the room. Immune to the smell or the sight of her daughter rotting away, she pushed away Hay Lin's probing hands and cooed over her daughter. "Lydia, I'm so glad you're up! Why didn't you put on that dress I put out for you?" She dusted off her apron and looked at Hay Lin apologetically, "She probably doesn't feel like talking yet. If you could come back a little later ..."

"Yeah," Will put in, "yeah, that's no problem."

"You can get some cookies when you do. "

Hay Lin looked hesitant, but followed Will's lead. Once outside, Will did everything she could to get rid of the smell, but it wasn't possible. It was stuck to her skin like glue. "She knows," Will said finally, once they were on the street again, "she knows there's something wrong with her daughter and she doesn't ..."

"Lydia ..." Hay Lin stared at her feet; slowly she removed her trench coat. "She was really nice. She would always bring cakes and stuff over to the restaurant from her mom. She liked to sing ... she sang at church."

"Hay Lin, how do you get rid of zombies."

"Well," She bit her bottom lip, chewed on it thoughtfully, "There are two ways. You could just destroy the zombie. Cut off the head and mess up the chest. That's the easiest way."

"We're not destroying her."

"Wilhelmina, she's already dead."

"It doesn't matter. Her mother should at least have the chance to bury her daughter." Will was certain of that. She wasn't the nicest person in the world, but she at least knew that good people deserved something more than heartache. "What's the other way?"

"You destroy the person who cast the spell. It's a lot harder because you can't really tell where the person is."

"Always some destruction involved."

"So," Hay Lin looked hesitant, "you're helping us?"

Will didn't know. This wasn't her obligation, this wasn't her fight. Just because she felt sorry for someone wasn't reason enough to give up her own freedom. Besides, who would do the same for her? Still, she couldn't leave and let Hay Lin and her grandmother hack that girl into oblivion.

"She isn't even violent or anything."

"That's because she hasn't been dead for that long. She still has some human characteristics. Once they fade, she'll start to attack and stuff." Hay Lin's eyes shifted as she thought, "Wilhelmina, I know you don't want to hurt Miss Jesse but if we leave her with Lydia, her whole family will be in danger."

"It's ... It's not that," Will shrugged and tried to look unconcerned, "I just don't think you should be going around lacerating everyone."

"Oh," said Hay Lin.

"I'll help this time." With the upmost care, Will removed the guitar case from her back and set it down besides her. "Just because."

Hay Lin nodded, "well, let's get back home then. Grandma will tell us what to do."

* * *

"That is not an option," Eyes like liquid coals hidden among sheets of parchment, and hands roughened by the sands of time, Yan Lin didn't even look remotely like a kindly grandmother. "Well, it is a suicide option, but we Chinese don't condone euthanasia." She favoured an old pit bull on the last months of its life. It would bite and snarl at anything that passed, just to prove that it could.

"I don't see what the problem is. Getting one person is definitely easier than getting four. It's math." Will snapped back.

They were back in the little basement, now perfectly clean and smell free, being cooled by the efforts of the standing fan and lectured by the voice of Yan Lin. "Here's some more math for you. What's one times zero?"

Will frowned, "Nothing. What does that have to do with –"

"Exactly. If you fuck this up, you will have no more chances to fuck anything up again. Because you will be dead."

Caleb snickered from the corner where he stood. Will narrowed her eyes, "Why are you still here? Don't you have children to devour? Oh wait, monsters like you probably can't be seen in the daylight."

"I'm waiting for Lucia." He said shortly and then, because he really couldn't resist, "listen to Yan Lin, you need to pick your battles. Choose the ones you will win, not the ones you _want_ to fight."

"I'm not chopping up those girls! And Hay Lin isn't either!"

"Actually, I never said I had a problem with it. I've done it twice before."

So much for unity. "See, it's for the best. The sorcerer who did this is extremely powerful," Yan Lin looked satisfied, "He cannot be defeated as easily as you think. Just do this and then come back here so we can start basic training. Caleb has agreed to help us."

"Joy." Will frowned, "Come on Hay Lin."

Hay Lin jumped up from her seat and followed, but they were both stopped by Yan Lin's protest, "Not at all. We're coming with you. You two could probably destroy the entire town on your own." She pushed past the pair accordingly.

"What's the point of being a guardian if I have watchmen?"

"You don't have any idea of how to control your powers or yourself and you want to go off on your own?"

"Oh please, Mr. Will expert do tell me more about my self-control." Will snapped back.

"What sort of a human name is Will? Isn't it a word?"

"Isn't Caleb another world for rectum blockage?"

"You know," Yan Lin stopped abruptly, forcing the three behind her into a collision, "Hay Lin, cover your ears." She checked to ensure that her granddaughter had obeyed, and then concluded, "I think the two of you should just fuck and get it over with."

* * *

Outside in the afternoon sun, the streets of Heatherfield baked. It was just as still as before, with that definite undercurrent of danger lurking behind the daffodils and the marigolds. Clouds floated aimlessly by, pretending as though they weren't watching; looking; waiting.

Hay Lin was excited, more than ever, she jumped and skipped on the sidewalk in front of The Silver Dragon, humming when she felt the place growing too quiet.

"All right Will, transform." Yan Lin snapped at Will, who squinted in reply.

"I don't suspect that you intend to tell me how." The red head said dryly.

"This, from the girl who doesn't want a babysitter."

"You can't withhold information from me and then blame me because I don't know it!" Will snapped back, growing annoyed. Images of Lydia were growing stronger in her mind and the sense of wrong doing wasn't fading.

"Take the sword and concentrate and then transform yourself and Hay Lin." Yan Lin indicated to the guitar case on Will's back. "The sword is an extension of yourself. Its powers are yours to control, all you need to do is concentrate."

"Can't I transform by myself?" Hay Lin asked.

"I'll teach you how. For right now, it is best that you both work as a team."

Will had already slipped the case off her back and flipped it open. The old sword was inside, looking as dreary as ever atop of the black suede interior. She picked it up by its tarnished hilt and did as Yan Lin had said: concentrated. She thought of being taller, with long hair, wearing purple and green – Hay Lin and her wings.

Then, there was that feeling again. The sensation of growing; of liquid warmth spreading through her limbs and dripping over her skin. Goose pimples atop of spine tingling anticipation; fear mixed with wonder. There was the rush of excitement, the pushing of bones against muscle, the brush of her hair against her shoulders – and then, nothing.

Now, Hay Lin was screaming, louder than ever before. Will eyes snapped open, only to snap shut again when a gust of wind lashed at her face. It was becoming more difficult to keep her feet on the ground; difficult to even catch her breath. The winds continued, pushing and tormenting until they stopped, just as easily as they had started, and Hay Lin was on the roof of The Silver Dragon.

"You see what happens when you don't listen!" Yan Lin was screaming, "you need to keep your emotions in check! Keep your mind clear! Come down here!"

She was barking out orders at a mile a minute, while Hay Lin clung for life by hanging onto the satellite dish.

"Hay Lin just fly down!" That was the final order, one that Hay Lin seemed the most reluctant to obey. It was clear why, in this form, Heatherfield had changed. Will's stomach jumped when she realized it. Although the bright, cheerful town remained the same – Will could still see the image of a curly haired blonde girl licking an oversized ice-cream cone – there was something more.

Dead things. They had to be dead, but they were as solid as Will herself, walking around on the sidewalk, watching her with empty, cloudy eyes. There were animals mostly, a grey tabby wandering across the street with its intestines hanging out caught Will's immediate attention. There were horses too, dogs, mice, pigs and cows. Behind them were a few people, scattered like stars among the sunlight, they were dressed in all types of clothing, from bell bottomed jeans and cotton shirts to wide hoop skirts and corset tops.

Dead.

Will's eyes shifted towards the side of the restaurant, where Hay Lin remained screaming. Beside her grandmother, as far as Will could see, was a tall, thin old Chinese man. He observed the scene silently, before shaking his head slowly from side to side and finally, vanishing into thin air.

"Grandpa!" Hay Lin screamed at her grandmother, who seemed unfazed. "Gen? Oh, he's always around! He won't do you anything! Come down!"

She was shivering violently, and her already milk white skin, was seemingly, whiter. Will, eyes wide with surprise, disgust and a thousand other emotions looked to Caleb for some explanation. "What ... Can you see those?"

He looked completely bored. "See what?"

"Those!" She pointed with the hand that held the sword, his eyes followed the blade. "Those ... things!"

"I don't see what ..."

"In your guardian form you become more aware of the other universes that exist around this one." Yan Lin was back, Hay Lin trotting stunned by her side, "The closest world to Earth is the Land of the Dead."

"This is really gross Nana!"

"_This_," Yan Lin barked, "is taking much, much, too long."

"There's road-kill at the school crossing ..." Will put in.

"It's always been there. You just never noticed it." Yan Lin said, "Ignore it again. Eventually, you'll get used to it."

Hay Lin whimpered in response, although Will remained silent, she shared the sentiment.

* * *

**Author:** I pictured Will looking like Audrey Hepburn or Natalie Portman. Not exactly feature for feature but that same kind of small, pixie like face. You know, eternal innocence, even at ninety.

So sorry that this is gonna have three parts, but I'm feeling like the battle for the zombies won't be that long but still have its own chapter. Yay! After that comes school for the girls, meaning Corny and Irmee, and a little later Taranee.


	7. C is for Conspiracy Part 3

**La Dolce Vita**

**By Seniya**

**C is for Conspiracy**

Part Three

_Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love._

_Hamilton Wright Mabie_

* * *

In Caleb's mind, it had become painfully clear in the last five minutes that Will and Hay Lin could potentially be the worst guardians in the history of the veil. After almost a half an hour of coaxing, Hay Lin had finally made it off the top of the restaurant – not that it made any difference. The minute she set foot on the ground and saw her Grandfather up close – she burst into tears and was flying through the air with the greatest of ease. She landed in a nearby tree.

Yan Lin hadn't been able to coax her down from that one.

Will, seemed fascinated by the dead things around her. "So ... the afterlife is another dimension. Just like Meridian." She bent to touch something – Caleb couldn't neither see nor understand what she was talking about and truly, had lost the patience to inquire.

What he did see, several minutes into this catastrophe; were the girls. Four of them, Caleb counted, all remarkable spectacles wandering dazedly in the middle of the deserted street. The sun had just begun a slow descent into the arms of the hills behind them and as such, the town was coated in an eerie orange glow. It danced along these girls' arms and faces, making the low moans slipping from their lips seem that more gruesome.

He had seen these creatures before, half-dead, half living, they were unable to control anything but their insatiable hunger. Phobos had created some of these years ago with the corpses of fallen soldiers and then set them upon their families.

In his gut, he knew this was no different.

Beside him, Will had finally taken notice as well. He would have to work on her attention span. The inability to see one's opponent before they spotted you was not one many lived to recount.

"That's them." She muttered. He watched her swallow and then bite down on her bottom lip. "They're ... children."

"Hardly," he replied, "they're dead. They're puppets of a master who has lost interest in their purpose."

He pulled a dagger from the waistband of his trousers. The blade caught the light of the setting sun on its face grinned with malicious intent – so bold it almost seemed beautiful. Caleb looked at the girl beside him. She looked older now; indeed she was taller although her face hadn't lost its nymph like quality. There was hesitance in those brown eyes that betrayed her maturity. Something moved inside of his own chest, although he pushed it away.

"This is your first lesson." He said, and she didn't respond. "The size, strength or power of the weapon matters little in a fight. In the end, it all comes down to the talent of the warrior."

She watched the dagger in his fist, her eyes lingered on the bruises that still blemished the skin there, "I won't fight these girls."

"You don't have a choice. You're a guardian and ..."

"I never asked to do any of this!"

Caleb felt his interest waning. He couldn't deal with theatrics. "Your blade is an extension of yourself. Think of it as your own arm, your own flesh. Watch me. I'll go after the yellow haired one first. She has been dead the longest and is the most dangerous. That is lesson number two. Know your enemy."

The next time he looked into those brown eyes he would see only steely resolution – before the hilt of the Blade of Kandrakar came slamming onto his skull. There was a brief moment where he staggered, his vision blurred by stars and lights. The witch moved to hit him again but he surprised her by grabbing her around her waist and tackling her to the ground. He was rewarded for his efforts with a well aimed kick to the groin.

His breath left his lungs as he toppled over onto his back, seeing stars of an entirely different colour now. The bitch moved like lightning. She snatched his dagger from the street beside him and held her own sword in her other hand. Caleb watched as she ran towards the oncoming girls ... apparently she intended to converse with them.

He bit back another groan of pain, "women."

* * *

"Lydia!" It was difficult to make out who was real and who was not in the blur that had become her reality. People were everywhere, dead, half-dead ... but she recognized the mop of lank, curly hair that belonged to Lydia. She stood still in the midst of the confusion; her arms were stretched out before her as though she were reaching for something that she could have. Her eyes were cold and lifeless. Those chilled Will to her very core.

Will dropped the sword and Caleb's dagger onto the ground. She would approach this peacefully. The girls had done nothing wrong.

Even though it had only been a few hours since Will had been in her house, Lydia's condition seemed to have worsened immensely. Now, chunks of flesh were missing from her face, the tendons in her arms were completely visible – her mouth was covered in blood.

"Lydia!" Will held onto those ice cold arms, searching with everything that she was worth for even a single iota of humanity in those hallow eyes, "Listen to me! You need to fight this! You have a mother who loves you very ..."

It was all she managed before those hands clasped around her neck. Lydia was stronger than she looked. Stronger than she should have been. Will gasped for breath even as the grip grew stronger.

What seemed like hours later, Caleb arrived at her side. With one well aimed slash of his dagger Lydia's head slipped onto its side before finally tumbling onto the ground. The grip around her neck slackened before the entire corpse finally melted away into a mountain of ash.

Now, she had Caleb's grip on her arm to deal with, "You could have died!"

"I didn't though."

"Consider yourself lucky that I've decided to overlook your insolence!"

"Oh ... shut up!" She watched the pile of ash behind him mournfully. "You shouldn't have killed her."

He let her go after that. "Lesson three; don't ever let your guard down. Lesson four. Don't leave your weapons in the middle of the street." He pointed to the Blade of Kandrakar, which Will hurriedly picked up when she noticed.

There was a throbbing at the back of Caleb's skull that told him it was a damn good thing he hadn't been raised to strike women. If not, well, the veil would have right now, been short of one keeper of the heart.

The three remaining girls really weren't much competition. Even with Will refusing to participate and HayLin trapped in a tree ... YanLin and Caleb were capable of making quick work of the approaching zombies.

* * *

If anything, the two new guardians provided more distraction than anything else. Will would scream obscenities from the sidelines, often throwing rocks at Caleb or YanLin – once even cheering on the zombies when they got a got punch in. HayLin had unintentionally whipped up a miniscule tornado that had so far pulled down two lamp posts and was in the process of uprooting an oak tree.

Yan Lin, unperturbed, moved seamlessly. For her, this could be the steps of a long memorized dance. One, two, three; she reached into her pockets and retrieved a vial of salt. One, two; hard, wizened fingers rubbed over the grains and dashed them on the street. One, two; the salt surrounded her like a barrier at the same time those fingers turned through the pages of a small black book.

"Pater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum."

These girls would die if she didn't do something. Will had been ordered to sit on the sidewalk by YanLin. Both she and Caleb wanted her only as a witness to this massacre. In her trembling hand the hilt of the heavy sword grew warmer, drawing her attention away from the battle and towards a more optimistic option.

"Can I save them?" She didn't know what she was doing – what had told her that the piece of metal in her hand could understand her words – she felt it throb in response – growing warmer.

_Yes._

"Tell me," It was more a prayer than a command, it held more helplessness than conviction – "Tell me who do this! Show me!" Sweat trickled off her forehead while all around her the wind maintained its chaos, whipping at her hair and tearing at her lungs.

She could feel the blade growing warmer in her palm, it had heard her. It was responding.

_Yes_.

Her right arm jerked suddenly to the side, all of her body's energy seemed to have converged there – it shivered as though she were holding onto a lightning rod in the middle of a hurricane – so much power.

_Here_.

This was the answer. Trembling, Will rose to her feet. The sword was pointing directly across the street to an old wooden house with paper fans in the garden. That wasn't it though. The answer was beyond this world. She needed to go back to Meridian.

Swallowing, she looked for the others out of the corner of her eye. Yan Lin stood in the centre of the chaos muttering spells which apparently held the girls at bay. Caleb had taken a more physical approach and had thrown one girl over his shoulder whilst another one gnawed at his leg. Hay Lin, she couldn't see, but the winds attacking her limbs told her that she must have found herself, again, on a rooftop somewhere.

"Take me there!" Will yelled over the sounds of her thundering pulse and the rampaging gusts. And then, just like that, she was gone.

* * *

"I'm going to kill her!" The storm had passed, just as quickly as it had come. There was salt on her skin, both from perspiration and from her ministrations – proof of her victory. Hay Lin had returned to her normal form, looking more dishevelled than accomplished. She sat looking completely windswept with her knees curled up under her chin on the steps to the restaurant, jumping and shivering with every sudden sound.

"I knew this would happen!" And he had. From the first instant he had laid his eyes on that little witch he had known in his gut that she would be nothing but trouble. She was too headstrong, too vile and belligerent for a woman! For a _child_! What she needed was a man to force obedience into her head, although, he'd be damned if that man would be him. "I told you she could never be a guardian!"

The wound on his head thudded with every word he spoke.

"The blade wouldn't listen to her if she weren't!" This was trouble. The zombie-girls had been taken care of. That had been almost painfully simple. They weren't her first set of zombies and they certainly wouldn't be her last. Her knees cramped uncomfortably while she stood. Damn arthritis. It would have gone a lot smoother had Wilhelmina just listened.

Yan Lin reached into her coat pocket and pulled out her compass, the needle inside reflected the chaos in her mind. It danced around the circle rapidly, stopping frequently, never once making sense. "Dammit!" She breathed, and the overwhelming sense of foreboding held her again. Keepers of the Heart of Kandrakar were not as disposable as she would have liked to think. Wilhelmina's safety was just as important as the blade.

"We cannot afford for anything to happen to her."

"Tell her that," grunted Caleb.

"We need to go to Meridian." Yan Lin concluded, "to get her back. The question is, how."

"Lucia."

* * *

Will wasn't in Meridian.

Where ever she was – it was nothing like the dark, hopeless place she'd seen the night before. This place was bright – indescribably so. That was just the beginning of comparisons. There was a feeling of foreboding and hopelessness that filled the soul in Meridian. That didn't exist in this place. The strange people and customs and accents were missing as well. As far as Will could tell, it was just her in this endless hall of mirrors. That's what it was essentially – an endless white chasm of mirrors, with a ceiling that went as high as the heavens – and no way out. A beautiful prison, as far as she could tell.

There was only one similarity between this place and Meridian: she didn't feel safe here either.

"Hello?" Her voice rumbled uncertainly over her lips, echoing over the reflections that stared, confused, right back at her.

Realising that she was kneeling, Will got to her feet, a moment's distraction that caused her to notice another reflection besides her own. Slowly, Will faced the dark haired woman. In her hand, the sword's blade grew as hot as coals but Will held on. "Who are you?" She whispered.

"I _am_," her lips were chapped, her skin loose and soft atop of delicate, beautiful bones. She had bright amber eyes, devoid of light and emotion. Long black hair hid tattered robes and an emaciated frame from sight. Will started to back away before remembering that she was trapped.

"I am you." The old woman spoke carefully, as though her speech was something she had forgotten she owned. "You are me. We are the same. I suppose."

"Where am I?"

The old woman grinned, revealing yellow, pointed teeth. "Mount Thanos. My home." Her smile faded. "Do you like it?"

Will swallowed, this woman was dangerous, she could feel it ... and she was moving closer. Feeling helpless, Will pointed the sword towards the woman, who stilled but smiled all the same. "Stay back!" She hoped she looked as threatening as she wanted to, "I'll ..."

"You'll what exactly?" Another step, "You can't even hurt those dead girls on earth. You'll hurt me – a living, breathing thing?"

"W-Who are you?" The blade was shaking in her hands. It was burning even hotter now, begging to be released. Will couldn't let go.

"I am you."

"What's your name!"

"Nerissa." She said pleasantly. "I haven't been called that in a long while though."

"I-I know you ..." The conversation with Yan Lin came rushing back to her. He blood, if possible, ran colder. "Why am I here?"

"I brought you here."

"How?"

She didn't bother to answer, "You have something that belongs to me." She indicated towards the sword, which grew hotter in response.

"It's not yours."

"Isn't it?" She laughed, "It still obeys me." Then, to prove her point he beckoned the weapon closer, using two fingers.

Will gasped as she realised she was being tugged towards the woman. "T-This ... it's not yours!"

"I know what it feels like," she whispered seductively, "what it feels like to finally have some importance. A purpose in life ... after being alone for so long. I know."

"No!"

"Children shouldn't have such power."

"It's not yours!"

"You don't know what to do with it."

"It's not yours!" She was a mere foot away from Nerissa's grasp when the sword's hilt finally stopped burning. "It's mine!" She pressed, and just like that, the force on the other side of the blade evaporated, and the metal fell with a heavy _clang_ against the mirrored floor.

Nerissa seemed genuinely shocked. "No, this cannot be."

"I am the wielder of this sword ..."

"You will not take this away from me!" She tried to lunge towards Will, her golden eyes glinting with malicious intent. However, it was too late. Will had already clutched the sword close to her heart and concentrated with every fibre of her being on the disgusting basement inside of YanLin's restaurant. She could smell the potions, see the frog legs, the snail jar, the shelves of books and metal instruments - in a flash of light ... she was gone.

* * *

"And there she is." Lucia couldn't help but sound smug as Will suddenly appeared in a flicker of white light. "I told you she would return."

Lucia was cloaked today, her face and body were concealed with a dark green hooded robe, although her voice was unmistakable. "Really YanLin, the next time you cry wolf – let me at least see some fangs."

"You!" YanLin screamed, "I should have your head for that stunt you just pulled!"

"I-I saw her ..." Will crumbled to her knees, fighting the urge to fall into a ball and wait for this nausea to pass.

"You know, I don't have time to waste training annoying little know it alls." Caleb drawled from the back.

"I saw Nerissa!" Will blurted, met then only with silence.

"What do you mean child?" Lucia pushed forward to stand by Will's side, trying then to force her weakened limbs to stand. "What do you mean!"

"She called me ... I dunno ... I ..."

"Nerissa is locked up in Mount ..."

"Thanos." YanLin's expression hardened, "I know ... I saw it. In a hall of mirrors." Will looked at HayLin who was still dishevelled from earlier. "She wants to hurt me and HayLin ... She wants us dead, I could feel it."

"No!" Yan Lin rushed to stand in front of Will, "For God's sake Wilhelmina! You had better be lying!"

"Why would she lie, YanLin!" Lucia tightened the grip on Will's arm, her exotic eyes met Will's, "How did you get there?"

"I wanted to go to Meridian ... I thought I could find whoever created the zombies and stop them." As usual, in Lucia's presence, the truth slipped out freely. "I asked the blade to take me to the person. I ... I thought it would listen to me."

"But it didn't ..." HayLin whispered. She looked terrified. "Nana, why wouldn't it listen to Will?"

YanLin's face seemed to have aged twenty years in the last minute, she replied, "Because it's answering to another Master. Nerissa is still the wielder of the blade."

"But you got home Will," Lucia prodded.

"Yes ... I thought about coming home. Just like YanLin told me ... and I did it ..."

"Good girl." She pressed two fingers against the red head's flushed neck. Will fell asleep in the next second. The sword fell heavily onto the concrete floor.

"Here," Lucia pushed Will into YanLin's unwelcoming arms, "I'll go to the Oracle right away."

"Why should you go? He hates you."

"It doesn't matter. This ... is ..." she shook her head, "An unnecessary complication."

"Nana ... I don't understand."

Lucia was gone in a blaze of light and smoke before she could be questioned any further. HayLin refused to be ignored, "Nana! Tell me what's going on! Where did Will go?"

YanLin clicked her tongue before sadly shaking her head, "someplace we'd all best hope she never has to see again."

* * *

**Author:** Hooray! An update! I'd written pieces of this so long ago! Just had to piece together an ending, although I had no idea it would take so long to do so. Yes, so Nerissa is here as well. Muhahahahaha. Fun, fun. Continue to comment and review. I do love the support I get from you guys, so thank you! Hopefully, Will has learnt her lesson about running off.

Next segment! D is for Discipline!

Reviews are always welcome!


	8. D is for Discipline Part 1

**La Dolce Vita**

**By Seniya**

**D is for Discipline**

Part One

_Nothing is more harmful to the service, than the neglect of discipline; for that discipline, more than numbers, gives one army superiority over another._

**George Washington**

**

* * *

**Cornelia Elizabeth Hale was not what you could call _average_. This, of course, was no secret – all you had to do was to take one look (if you could only manage one) at Ms. Hale and you would recognize that she was a bona-fide model of superiority.

At sixteen Cornelia had already accomplished much more than others do in their entire lifetime. An aspiring actress and model, she had spent the summer in California attending an acting workshop where she had gained the praise of her teacher, who called her a "Cameron Diaz in the making". She landed two national commercials (both speaking parts), one was for McDonalds and the other – K-Mart. On top of that, she had modelled shoes for Forever 21 last spring. She was an accomplished tennis player who'd represented North Carolina at the Junior State Championships two years in a row. And you couldn't forget to note that she had a lovely singing voice.

Not to mention that she was physically flawless, with skin like rich cream, eyes like the summer skies and silky blonde hair. She was, quite literally, the golden girl of Heatherfield.

Still, those things don't really matter in High School – what did matter however, was that her Daddy was the heir to a small part of a toothpaste fortune and had bought her a cherry red Ford Fiesta convertible for her last birthday. This was considered by all of Heatherfield's under-21 population, to be her single greatest achievement. It was also why on the first day back to school, there was a throng of ass kissers flooding the parking lot waiting for her to arrive.

* * *

Irma Maria Lair refused to be one of those ass kissers, although she was a part a desperate minority. Irma, considered herself just as (if not more) accomplished as Cornelia – but she was in the minority for that one as well. She'd known the blonde almost of her life and had decided since the tender age of three, to hate her for all eternity. She hadn't changed her mind yet.

Irma had been feeling quite optimistic about the new school year until she'd actually gone to school. Right then, even the feeling of her new Nikes and extra cute top couldn't rescue her from the feeling of dread.

"Is the whole school out here?" She hissed, shoving two clueless boys out of her path as she pushed her way towards the front door. To her absolute dismay, she noted some teachers craning their necks for a glimpse as well.

"Did you see her on the McDonalds commercial? I heard she got a lifetime supply of Big Macs ..." Irma could overhear. "Oh please," she snapped loudly, not caring that the person hadn't been talking to her in the first place, "as if she eats."

Not many persons could really understand Irma's feelings – because on top of everything else. That bitch Cornelia, was _nice_, or at least, used every one of those expensive acting lessons pretending to be.

By the time Irma had finally managed to make her way to her locker, her mood was positively foul. It wasn't jealousy (or so Irma would swear until her dying day) it was actually frustration. What? She asked herself for the umpteenth time, what does she have that I don't?

* * *

Will was late. In a hypothetical future narration of her life story, the biographer would probably add on an "as usual" to that sentence but for right now, Will wasn't taking the fall for being late. After all, it wasn't her idea to have early morning sword practice on the first day of school! Her arms were sore, as well as her fingers, shoulders, back and throat – the latter came from yelling witty (in her opinion) comebacks at her anal retentive, jerk-wad, douche-bag of a teacher. Now, her legs were bound to be pained up because of the three hundred metre sprint she was forced to undertake in order to make it to class (hopefully) before the first period –

The high piercing toll of the school bell told her all prayers were futile. From her spot, a good few hundred feet away from the school door, Will watched helplessly as the security guard pulled the heavy metal doors shut. The graffiti and rows of posters on the exterior of the school glared smugly at her as she struggled for breath before finally giving up.

"Aw, shit!" Well, it made no sense running now. Will managed to ease the desperation out of her legs and finally stop her run before she bent, hands on her knees, and gasped for breath. Late was late, her dad had always told her – five minutes or fifteen didn't make any difference.

God, why did she have to be late on the first day? It was bad enough being the red headed new girl. But she had hoped that if she'd played her cards right she could have blended in and maybe even gone unnoticed at least until winter break.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a gruff voice behind her, "why aren't you in school young lady?"

Will jumped before turning around, "Are you blind or something?" Will hadn't been in a good mood since she'd been pulled from her bed at four o'clock this morning, "I'm getting there."

The man questioning her wore a policeman's uniform – not from Heatherfield, but from North Carolina. The state? Will frowned but didn't ask any of the questions now tumbling around in her mind. He however, didn't feel the need to be silent, "not from around here are you?" He was referring to her thick Texas accent – rude, Will decided, when his country drawl was nothing better.

The man had a thick brown moustache that covered his entire upper lip. Maybe he had intended for the facial hair to age him – but it did nothing to distract from the dozens of acne scars across his cheeks. "Look little lady, we've had some disappearances around here the last few weeks and we ain't taking any more chances. If you're supposed to be in school – you should be there, not be getting there."

Will smiled, "much obliged officer." She drawled, "now I'll just mosey on over to the school yard and gets to learning my 'rithmetic."

It was a good of an impression as any, but he wasn't amused. "You'll come with me."

He latched onto her upper arm and began to pull her towards the school gate, but not before he removed a walkie-talkie from his hip and mumbled some vague directions into the microphone.

"They still use those?" Will asked out loud. She wasn't answered, merely tugged along inside, past another four policemen.

* * *

The increased security was all the talk of the tenth grade home room class. Many students whispered excitedly to each other about having walked through a metal detector for the first time in their lives. Less than half of them had never left the city border – much less the state – and this was almost alien to them.

"He took my daddy's penknife!" Uriah James whined for the thousandth time.

"You should never have had a penknife in the first place, Uriah! We've been telling you that for years!" The homeroom teacher, Mrs. Watson, was a tiny, mouse-like lady with a deep, masculine voice that never ceased to disturb anyone who she spoke to. She did have a lovely tenor voice however, and enjoyed singing in the church choir on weekends. What she didn't like, was teaching – and it showed.

"Now sit down! All of you! It's late enough as it is! You waste so much time in here, it's no wonder half of you never amount to anything!"

"Oh, public school," Cornelia whispered to her best friend Elyon, "how do I love thee."

"Ms. Hale! Would you and Ms. Brown like to explain what you're muttering in the corner about?"

"Just how much I love homeroom ma'am." Cornelia smiled, while some others in the back snickered.

Elyon shyly put in, "h-how much w-we all do."

Before Watson could manage to issue a detention to the entire class (because she was a firm believer in the "Peter paid for Paul" method of education), the classroom door was pushed open and in walked in a police officer with a squirming girl in his arms.

"Sorry to interrupt ma'am," the officer drawled before he hooked his thumb in his waist and posed with his feet wide apart. "I found this girl wandering around outside and the principal says she'll be belonging to this class."

Mrs. Watson took one look at the sweaty, unruly red head, who looked almost as venomous as a rattlesnake, and made a low noise of disapproval. "Playing hookey already, eh?"

Will rolled her eyes.

"The rudeness of this generation will not be overlooked by our lord and saviour Jesus Christ! Fire and brimstone!" She said, in a voice as low and discomforting as thunder. Someone in the back squealed and shook before tumbling off their chair – the entire class burst out laughing.

"Detention!" Mrs. Watson boomed, and then seemed to recall she had detention duty this week and decided against it. "Actually a thousand lines for all of you, "I must respect my elders." By tomorrow!" The students groaned and she smiled with smug satisfaction. "Thank you officer, I am used to these delinquents and I'll take it from here."

The officer nodded briefly before finally releasing his grip on Will's arm and sauntering outside.

"Now, who are you?"

Will stared at this mousy little woman, who she, even at 5 foot 2 inches, towered over, "I'm Will."

"Will?" She turned up her nose in disgust. "That's a boy's name!"

"You shouldn't ask questions you don't want answers for." Will snapped.

Someone in the class giggled at that, while the others sat spellbound, eagerly watching the confrontation. "It's the clash of the little people!" Uriah hollered and nearly everyone started whooping in delight.

"Yo, I'm betting five on the red head!"

"No man, Watson's a beast!"

"Silence!" Mrs. Watson snapped and obedience was immediate. "What's your full name?"

"Wilhemina Vandom."

"Yuck! That's the girl who attacked my grandma with a sword!" whispered Cornelia, "Actually, I think my great-great-grandmother was a Wilhelmina – and it was a grandma name back then too." Elyon dissolved into a fit of giggles.

"Yes, I've been expecting you. Well, Ms. Vandom, I won't ask you anything else. Do, honour us and tell the class a little about yourself."

Will squirmed on the inside because she hated public speaking. She managed to look nonchalant as she spoke, "I'm Will. I'm in tenth grade. I have red hair." The first roar of laughter was all it took for Watson to snap. "Find yourself a seat! And you can thank Ms. Vandom class, you now have two thousand lines for tomorrow!"

Will tugged her knapsack a little higher on her sore shoulder and moved quickly down the aisles, eyeing a vacant seat behind a thin blonde girl near to a window.

"Gross!" She heard the blonde snicker to her equally blonde friend as she walked past, "apparently salvation army had a back to school sale!"

* * *

By lunch, news of the "homeless looking red-haired new girl" had spread around school like a wildfire. Not that the popularity caused Will to gain any friends. In fact, she was still a loner, sitting off in a corner of the cafeteria by herself, munching on mystery meat. It was just as well. Will was used to being alone.

She needed the time to think anyways. Caleb had drilled four new routines into her head earlier this morning and if they weren't perfect by tonight he'd whine about it for days. The concept of school had eluded him and Will didn't have the patience to explain.

In the few weeks since they'd found out they were guardians and then botched up a perfectly simple zombie attack, Yan Lin hadn't bothered to send Will nor her grand-daughter on any more missions. Now, their days were filled with training – which included anything from circuit training to potion brewing. She was still more than a little wary about the entire guardian idea but she'd been lectured more than a million times about her destiny and duty in the last few weeks.

Maybe it was guilt tying her to this idea. Guilt for the people who were in danger – girls like Lydia and those bug eyed cat people from Caleb's home – maybe she felt like she couldn't leave Hay Lin to fight this battle on her own. Even though the younger girl was sheltered, hyperactive and naive to a fault – Will appreciated her presence. In this case, she definitely didn't want to be alone. One thing was for certain, Will had finally begun to accept that she was a guardian of the veil – as well as everything that came along with the title.

"Hi!" Will's eyes snapped up from staring at her fork. She met the bright green eyes of curly haired brunette, whose top was too tight, too short and much too low cut for school but didn't seem to notice.

"Hello," Will mumbled, "are you lost?"

"No." The girl talked fast, "can I sit here?" She didn't wait for an answer, just slapped her tray on top of the table and began to dig into her salad. "I'm on a diet." She explained the answer to a question Will had never asked.

Then, with a mouth full of lettuce she said, "I'm Irma. You're Wilhelmina right? The new girl?"

"Obviously." She doubted the school was filled with new girls.

"Well, yeah," Irma giggled, "duh!" She smacked her forehead and continued munching. "I should've had a V8!"

Will stared.

In the next ten minutes, Will learned, without ever having asked a single question, that Irma was fifteen, anaemic, Mexican on her mother's side, had webbed toes and was going to be trying out for the lead in the school play next week.

"It's so many lines!" She sighed, she had finished off her salad but, still hungry, had dug out a Milky Way bar from her backpack and chomped it down in four bites. "And that cow Cornelia Hale is obviously gonna try out for it. Do you know her?"

"Um ... no ..."

"She's this blonde skank. She's in your class. I can't stand her but everyone else worships the frigging ground she walks on."

"Ok ..."

"She used to go to boarding school in Maine until last year. She came home because her parents said they missed her but puh-lease, she obviously got the clap or something."

Will realised then that she didn't really like Irma. Girls like Irma had gossiped about her for her entire life, about her Mom being gone, her grandparents being broke, her Dad being in prison. "You shouldn't say those kinds of this about people behind their backs." Irma stopped her rant and stared. Apparently she was surprised that Will could form complete sentences. "It's hateful, rude and makes you look insecure."

"I-I ..."

"Which, judging by your diets and that fact that your shirt does nothing to hide your breasts – you are."

Irma didn't bother to defend herself; instead she went right into self-righteous mode. "All I was doing was trying to be friends. You didn't have to – hey, where are you going?"

* * *

She was so tired of high school after a mere three hours, Will actually found herself missing potion lessons with Yan Lin. As she walked through the rows of tables, she heard the snickers and giggles before she felt someone push against her shoulders. "Hey, new girl." Will turned to see the thin blonde from home room.

"Don't touch me." Will snapped, and began to turn away.

"I just wanted to ask you something. Calm down." She smelled strongly like expensive perfume and although her face looked clean and simple, Will could tell that it was the end result of nearly an hour in the mirror.

Will frowned as the girl brushed her long blonde hair from her face, "that girl you were talking to – Irma. What was she telling you about me?"

"Are you serious?"

"She's always talking about me, that fat slob, she's so jealous. Just tell me what she said ... it'll make things easier for you."

"Easier?"

"If I like you, people will like you. And your high school life will be so much easier."

Rolling her eyes, Will turned on her heel and walked out of the cafeteria, leaving Cornelia, who had seldom heard "no" in her entire life, utterly shocked. "She is so over!"

* * *

The three o'clock rush was held up by the new security at the front doors. Now, instead of a steady outpouring of teenagers, there was a mere trickle, as everyone waited in line to be searched.

It was in that line Will came across Irma again. "Look," the brunette said, "I just wanted to apologize." She took Will's blank expression as encouragement and continued, "I'm not a terrible person ... I'm not. It's just that she's so ... urgh!" Irma clicked her tongue, "I know what it's like to have people talking behind your back and ... I just wanted to say that I'm sorry if my little rant bothered you. I ... guess I was just a little too eager to make friends."

Will nodded, honestly, she'd forgotten about the argument at lunch time, right now she was more consumed with remembering a missing step in a routine Caleb had shown her. "It's fine."

"So, hey ... you wanna hang out after school? We can go for ice cream ... or there's this really gross Chinese restaurant down the street but they give you a lot of food."

"I don't hang out."

"It's the first day. I seriously doubt that you're swimming in homework."

"I'm busy." And that was that.

Irma frowned and looked as though she wanted to say something else, but changed her mind and walked away. Will did feel a pang of sympathy when she saw the brunette's back retreating into the crowd – but pushed away the feeling immediately. Now wasn't the time to be playing girl-scout. She had too much on her plate for an extra serving of friends.

* * *

Those same thoughts were reinforced the minute Will escaped the end of school crowd and stepped onto the sidewalk. The smell of Olbas oil and Elmers Glue was what first alerted her to their presence – not that she could miss the Lin family. The pair bickered endlessly between two parked cars, dressed in startlingly white coats, topped off with thick yellow gloves and massive goggles.

"Oh geez ..." They looked like they had escaped from a Ghostbusters reunion. Quickly adjusting her hair so it covered some of her face, Will attempted to edge away from the pair but ... "Will!" Hay Lin had the eyes of a hawk.

Will sighed, but started to walk over – to her dismay, some of her classmates had already started to stare. That fact didn't hold her attention for long, "We have an emergency." Yan Lin said.

"Did you see Eric today?" Her grand-daughter asked Will eagerly.

"Who's Eric?"

"Never mind that!" Yan Lin snapped, "I said emergency! Have you forgotten what that word means!"

"It means shut up and listen." Hay Lin quoted, remembering last week's lesson.

"Exactly!" Yan Lin returned her attention to Will, "We have discovered the presence of two more guardians."

"Earth and water!"

"They go to your school – or so we figure – since they're teenage girls and this is the only high school in Heatherfield."

"Well, who are they?" Will lowered her voice to a whisper, "do you have names?"

"That was a bit fuzzy." Hay Lin looked sheepish, "we tried to cast a seeking spell ... but ..."

"A good set of bat ears are just so hard to find these days ..." Now, Yan Lin looked skittish.

"So ... you're saying you have no idea who they are." Will almost rolled her eyes, "haven't we always known they were other guardians here?"

"No. I mean that's true, but we weren't saying that." Hay Lin swallowed before she spoke again, "we're saying that we accidently released an evil Irish demon child onto Heatherfield."

"What?"

"Don't tell Lucia!" Yan Lin whispered frantically, "she'll never let me live this down!"

"Wait ... Are you guys serious?"

"Of course we're serious!" Yan Lin ran a palm across her wrinkled forehead, she stopped mid sentence when one of the car owners honked their horn impatiently, "look, let's just get to the restaurant to figure this out."

"I can't believe this."

"Neither can we. It took us three months to catch that demon the first time." Hay Lin took one last wistful glance at the crowd gathered in front of the school before she smiled brightly at Will. "I hope you don't have too much homework."

* * *

**Author:** Hay Lin is home schooled, although her grandma is in charge of her education so she doesn't learn much. Just wanted to make that clear. I plan on letting Hay Lin come to the school with the girls after a while, but for now, she's sitting out. So here we have Corny and Irmee. Irma is my favourite character in the entire series, and I know she and Cornelia are a lot of OC right now, but this story is about change and growth – good or bad, and when the girls start to interact with each other, I'll try to get their original characteristics back out.

**Next chapter: Will, Hay Lin and Yan Lin go behind Lucia's and Caleb's back to track the demon. Also, the new guardians find out about their powers. And there's a bit of competition between the two new girls.**

Reviews make my day! Thanks to all those who've been supporting me so far! I really love this idea and I'm glad that so many of you do as well.


	9. D is for Discipline Part 2

**La Dolce Vita**

**D is for Discipline**

**Part Two**

_Half of life is luck; the other half is discipline - and that__'__s the important half, for without discipline you wouldn__'__t know what to do with luck._  
**Carl Zuckmeyer**

**

* * *

**

The friendship between Elyon Brown and Cornelia Hale was one that had been discussed endlessly over the last few years by the townspeople of Heatherfield. They were not, you see, two peas in a pod (you could say) and it was a small town, with small minds, smaller conversations but with one large appetite for gossip.

Elyon's mother had turned up – yes, literally, turned up – out of nowhere, sixteen years ago on the steps of the Heatherfield Baptist Church, clutching a baby in her arms. It had been a dark, cloudless night and the moon had hung high in the sky, drowning the world in curtains of silver. Pastor Thomas Brown had found her as he'd been shutting up the church after evening mass. He'd asked where she'd come from, and she, by way of response had tried to strangle him.

Pastor Brown had played quarterback for Heatherfield High's Saints all throughout his teen years. He'd never considered it a very useful skill (aside from getting him a college scholarship) – until that night at least. Then, he'd had to pick up a wailing newborn in his arms and sprint half a mile to the police station with a remarkably fast two hundred pound woman at his heels. He thanked God he could.

Needless to say, her mother had been arrested and jailed that very night and deemed mentally unstable only days later.

For the first few years of her life, Elyon had been raised by Pastor Thomas and his wife, Eleanor. That was until an electrical malfunction had caused the family home to burn to the ground, killing the older Browns while Elyon had been at a birthday party. By then, Elyon had been five years old. Mere days later, her mother had been released from prison and assumed full guardianship.

They moved into a rundown one bedroom bungalow near to Hale's Pond, in a section of Heatherfield that was fondly known as "the wrong side of the tracks". There, visitors were few and far between and even the neighbours (who were technically in the same boat) had decided that these two were best avoided.

What was even odder was that her mother had let Elyon Brown keep the name given to her by the late pastor. The mother, who was named Eve, did odd jobs around the town, like cleaning and laundry but the family mostly lived off of "the kindness of strangers".

Elyon never quite recovered from the trauma in her early life. She was sullen, quiet and had a stutter. What was worse was that Eve was a terrible mother. She was an alcoholic, gambled and treated her daughter like an inconvenience. She was still crazy, by all means, and often rambled about nonsense like other worlds, dead royalty and magic. She had several old coins wrapped in a handkerchief that she kept in her bosom at all times. Elyon had only seen them a handful of times, when her mother had taken them out to count them.

Many persons in Heatherfield felt bad for Elyon – she was their token charity case and they could always be counted upon to state what a "great shame" the entire situation was. Although words were really where the sympathy ended.

Elyon had met Cornelia a few years ago when her mother had been hired by Mrs. Hale (head of the sympathy group and wife to a successful bank owner, Harold Hale) to launder the drapes in her massive dining room. Eve was not particularly talented at cleaning (or the most grateful for jobs) but Mrs. Hale had done it to make a point to her Book Club. Eve had dragged Elyon along and then, because she also liked to make a point (or so the story goes), Cornelia had gone out of her way to befriend Elyon.

Whatever the reason, Elyon and Cornelia had been inseparable ever since. Elyon could now be seen following the taller girl around almost everywhere. Cornelia gave her bags of clothes and shoes, picked her up to and from school every day and let her stay over almost every weekend. Mrs. Hale appreciated the behaviour and encouraged it as it gave her yet another thing to brag about to her Book Club – philanthropy.

* * *

The Hales were respected in Heatherfield, for no other reason than they were there first. An old family that could be traced back to the Mayflower, they had settled in Heatherfield centuries ago. The name Heatherfield had actually come from Cornelia's great-great-great-great-grandmother, a Mrs. Heather Hale. They had named all the streets and the rivers and ponds – after themselves (of course) because the Hales were always a self-absorbed lot.

As a result of this, Cornelia's family had lived in the only house on Hale Avenue for over two hundred years. It was a massive three story house, painted lily-white with green trimming and a sprawling, well manicured lawn. Over the years they had renovated and added swimming pools and hot tubs to suit, but they had never moved. You see, among other things, moving was something Hales never did.

Cornelia was in the kitchen of that house after school with Elyon at her side, sitting at the marble island, munching on the cookies one of her many secret admirers had baked for her.

"You can always stay over tonight Elyon," Cornelia said after swallowing a small bite of chocolate chip, "if your mom is being weird again."

"S-She doesn't like i-it when I-I stay s-stay over too much." Elyon, who even after years of friendship still had difficulty maintaining eye contact, stammered out, "Besides ... I-I don't want to be a-a bother."

"Jesus lord!" Cornelia smiled, "I'm sick of telling you that you're not a bother. Who else am I gonna hang out with? Those losers at school?"

Elyon smiled shyly at that, taking another huge bite of the cookie before she spoke, "that Will g-girl was a-a m-mess."

"I know right!" Cornelia giggled, "Such a disaster, she's so over. And if she's going to be friends with Irma Lair ... then it's already social suicide."

"W-we should have a-a f-funeral for her."

"For both of them you mean. Irma's been dead to me for years." At that moment, Elizabeth Hale, Cornelia's mother, came into the kitchen. Although it was sweltering hot and in the beginning of September, Elizabeth was dressed in an expensive cashmere sweater with fashionable linen pants. Her short blonde hair was knotted at the back of her head, done to reveal expensive white gold earrings.

"Cornelia, darling," She brushed her lips against her daughter's cheek before plucking away a cookie from Cornelia's fingers, "Don't eat those, you'll get fatter. You already put on five pounds this summer! You have to work on getting that off. It's all that East Coast food, I swear."

Cornelia instantly fell silent, her head dropped and shoulders slumped forward as she stared at her well manicured hands in her lap.

Her mother never noticed.

"Elyon, how are you today? How was school?" She was already bustling through the kitchen to the fridge where she removed a pretty iced cake. That, she set onto the island before going to gather plates and forks.

"I-It was o-okay ... ma'am."

"Now, darling what did I say about calling me ma'am. Making me sound like an old school teacher. Call me Aunty Liz – I insist. Where are those forks?"

Elizabeth stayed for about three minutes, draining all the energy in the room as she chattered, looking for cutlery. Finally, "Cornelia, did you pick up Lillian?"

"Yes ma'am, she's upstairs."

"Good. Sit up straight Cornelia you'll give yourself a hump! Toodles girls, I'm off to gossip!" And she left, her outrageous laughter bubbled through the doors, indicating that she'd met up with her equally vapid friends.

"Parents." Cornelia smiled, trying to pretend like it hadn't bothered her in the least. She looked at the cookies in the plate but didn't touch any more. "C'mon, we've got those Alegbra sums to work on for tomorrow."

* * *

"A changeling is an Irish fairy." Down in the basement of the Silver Dragon, which was presently covered in thick yellow goo and smelled like sulphur, Yan Lin spoke to Will as she poured over goo coated spell books. "Fairies are vain things. When they give birth to ugly fairy kids they come to our world and snatch up pretty human children."

It was hard for Will to enjoy her makeshift dinner of pork fried rice in this disgusting room, but Yan Lin hadn't given her a choice. "So the thing you guys released is a changeling?"

"Yes. We had it in here for months without incident ... we were using its toenails in some curry ... err ... love potions. You see, there's no need to kill them since they usually die on their own in a year or two – but those damn bat wings! I'll never buy from one of Eric's suppliers again!"

"How'd it get here?"

Yan Lin grumbled, "Years ago, before all this migration and road trips and bull shit things stayed where they were." She seemed to forget she was Chinese. "Irish people know how to deal with changelings! But now everything is everywhere ... last year there was a Japanese Oni in Heatherfield and to this day no one can tell me how a twelve foot, red monster with horns got through immigration!"

"All right Nana!" Hay Lin skipped downstairs, her face turned up when the smell of the gunk hit her but she didn't say anything about it. Instead she concentrated on some papers in her hands. "I asked online about the changeling. Umm ... killbill44 says that we're idiots ... and err ... newmoon_09 says ROTFL ... I think it's a code. Oh, and downundagirl nominated you for the worst hunter of the year poll. That's good news though; you're ahead by five percent!"

"As usual, those idiots online have no idea what they're talking about."

"They said to use the compasses to track the energy level ... Changelings have a lower energy level than normal humans."

"Compasses don't work in Heatherfield because of how close we are to Meridian! I give up! No one can help us! We're on our own! " Yan Lin slammed the spell book shut. "Hay Lin ... Start cleaning this mess up! You too Will."

"Why do I have to clean? I didn't do this."

"No, it's a part of your guardian training. Mop wielding skills are most handy. Besides you owe me for the rice."

Will rolled her eyes and started to complain when a bright light engulfed the room. The next second, Caleb was besides her, already complaining that she hadn't started without him. "I'm not training with you today." Will said smugly, "Yan Lin needs me for something."

"What the meaning of this Lin? Don't you think I have other things to do with my time –"

"Yeah, like pull that gigantic stick outta your ass."

"There is no stick ... what's this mule you speak of?"

"Caleb, a thousand apologies. You can have Will ... Hay Lin and I will manage without her for today."

Now, it was Caleb's turn to look smug as Will began her outrage. "Yan Lin ... I thought that ..."

The older lady pulled Will's face towards her own and whispered, "Look, just distract him for a while until Hay Lin and I figure out what to do. I can't have him getting suspicious and telling Lucia!"

Will sighed, she couldn't remember half the steps Caleb had forced her to learn this morning and she knew a thousand lectures would be forthcoming. "All right," Will slipped away, "Let's go."

"Get your sword!"

"No shit Sherlock!"

"They're so cute together," Hay Lin sighed dreamily, as echoes of the pair's arguing swallowed the basement. "Aren't they Nana?"

"Cute isn't the word. Start mopping, I have to figure out where to get more foxglove – Mrs. Cook has been catching on to our gardening."

* * *

"You need to keep your back straight. I keep telling you to hold your weight in your legs." They had set up practice in the empty upstairs dining room. The tables and chairs had been pushed into the corners and Will stood very still in the middle of the red linoleum holding the Blade of Kandrakar as Caleb walked around her, correcting her ever worsening form (his words).

Outside the sun had set and across the sky, pink and purples swam towards the horizon, and threw a dull orange shimmer into the small room.

"Put your hand like this ..." He was behind her, she could feel him (there was a low rumble in his chest when he spoke), rather than see him. His arms were around her, his palms were rough. She could feel them on the backs of her arms. Goosebumps erupted from the rush of heat that he created. He smelled nice, she noticed, like the grass and sun and the outdoors. It suited him completely.

His fingers covered hers, readjusted them along the hilt. In that movement, Will recognized just how much strength there was in those hands. "Protect your thumb, line it up with the edge of the blade ..." Will nodded, feeling dizzy – feeling as though something were bubbling in her chest and choking her. "That's perfect." He had moved.

She was glad. Will tried to shake off the encounter but she couldn't, no insults were on her tongue, nothing was in her mind. So, she did the next best thing – she ran. "I'm gonna go back downstairs and see if Yan Lin needs me."

"No you're not. You'll stay here. We have a lot more to go through before you're ready."

Will frowned, he was so annoying. "You may be the boss of Meridian. But you can't tell me what to do."

"I just did."

"Doesn't mean that I'll listen."

"You're an irritable woman. You know this?"

"She knows." The pair jumped when Lucia strode into the room, "I've found two more guardians. Your practice will have to wait."

* * *

Christopher, her six year old half-brother was the only one at home when Irma got there. That was strange, since the Lair house was notorious for holding cousins, uncles and friends. He was sitting in the laundry cluttered living room watching cartoons and eating pudding cups (dinner).

As far as half brothers went, he looked nothing like her. While she was basically brown – all over – he was white blonde, green eyed and chubby (although that was putting it mildly). Chris had been diagnosed with autism two years ago and right now, cheese chips were his best (only) friend.

"Chris, what are you doing here by yourself? Where's your mom?"

"Where's your mom?" Christopher repeated. Irma dropped her backpack among the mess and walked over to him, already knowing that he would be filthy – from pudding and lunch and maybe from urine if he hadn't remembered how to use the potty today.

"Who leaves a six year old home alone?"

"Work late."

He _was_ filthy and more, and when she reached down to pick him up, he wouldn't look at her, instead he covered his ears with his palms and stared at the television. Grumbling to herself, Irma tugged Chris's hands away and began to pull him into the downstairs bathroom.

As usual, he was fussing – he hated baths. "Chris, you stink like old cheese. You need to bathe!"

"Bathe! Bathe!" He had started kicking and crying and by the time Irma had gotten him into the shower, he was hysterical.

"Chris stop!" He knew what stop meant and after a little while he calmed down. That was before the pipes in the house all turned on at once and water sprouted down from the shower nozzle and drenched him completely. Now, he was uncontrollable, kicking and screaming bloody murder until Irma finally had to take him out.

Her step-mother chose that moment to come home. "Are you trying to drown him?" She screamed, then pushed Irma aside and grabbed Chris from her, immediately cooing and shaking him even as he tried to squirm away.

Irma tried to shut off the taps but they weren't working. "What's wrong with these pipes? I thought you got these fixed!" Suddenly the water stopped, and Irma, drenched to the bone, found herself in a bathroom that was flooded up to her ankles. "Gross! The toilet too!"

Anna Lair had already covered her son in two towels and was apparently contemplating CPR when Irma came into the living room. She was able to manoeuvre through the mountains of toys, books, pudding cups and clothes to stand besides her step mother. "Why was Chris home alone?"

"What do you mean home alone?" Chris had started chewing on the edge of the towel, and his mother took that as a sign of recovery. "Why weren't you here with him?"

"Why wasn't I –"

Through the blue glare of the television set, Irma saw Anna's eyes flash dangerously. "I told you we had a PTA meeting today! I'd be late and you needed to come home and get Chris because the sitter was busy! I told you that twice this morning Irma!"

Irma honestly couldn't remember such a conversation and didn't doubt her step-mother (the wickedest bitch in the west) had just made it up to spite her. "No you didn't! All you were harping on this morning was about how Chris put on so much weight. Um, news flash – he lives on pudding and juice because you don't cook!"

"Don't change the subject! You are incredibly irresponsible! You know the situation and you don't even try to help! When you're father gets home he and I –"

"Whatever!" Irma turned on her heel and started to go upstairs. There were a million people in this house and she was the only one who ever had to do anything! As soon as the thought crossed her mind, her step-mother began to shriek again.

The pipes had turned back on.

* * *

"I would just like to say that I have always known about the other two guardians." Back in the basement, Yan Lin had hastily hidden her spell books and even the mop when Lucia had appeared at the door, for all the good it did, the room was still coated in yellow gunk.

"It still counts because I found them first. That's three to one. Although Hay Lin shouldn't count since she was under your nose the entire time." Lucia adjusted her long golden robes and grinned. "Face it Lin, this is a losing battle for you."

"Enough chatter. Why don't we talk about Phobos?" Caleb folded his arms across his chest, trying to take up as much space as possible in the small room. "He has been dormant for weeks. This is the calm before the storm and it makes sense that we ..."

"All right! This is what will happen." Yan Lin took charge, looking at Lucia as if she dared her to question her authority. "You and Caleb can get the new guardians, while Hay Lin, Will and I will continue training in spell making."

"Will doesn't need to learn spell making. Actually," Lucia smiled widely, "I doubt that Hay Lin can learn anything from you either. What's this Yan Lin?" Lucia indicated towards the gunk of the walls, "a seeking spell? Really, that's first year stuff."

"Well..." Yan Lin reddened, she was certain she would be revealed so she tried to cover as best as she could, "it wasn't a seeking spell. Although that's such an amateurish mistake –"

The echo of the doorbell upstairs interrupted her. Yan Lin frowned deeply and clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, "can't people read anymore? Don't closed signs mean anything?"

"Closed means shut up and listen." Hay Lin recited.

"No, I summoned these guests." Lucia snapped her fingers and instantly, there was the sound of footsteps against the upstairs linoleum.

"You can't just invite people in here Lucia! This isn't a half way house!"

"You're right – for once. It's more like an out-house."

There was enough tension in the air to ignite another argument (not that this pair ever needed much) but they were interrupted when more people entered the basement.

Will felt her forehead wrinkle as realization settled heavily on her, "these are the new guardians?"

She hadn't needed to ask. There was no other reason Lucia would call them. Behind her, Hay Lin squealed excitedly but Will (once more) found herself speechless. There was nothing in her life that had ever prepared her for even the thought of having to deal with Cornelia Hale or Irma Lair for more than the six hours she spent at school. Much less save the world with them.

Karma was a bitch.

"Um, are you guys still serving? I had this weird craving for Chinese food just now." Irma looked around at the basement, looking for sweet and sour chicken in between the myriad of expressions that played out.

Cornelia was never one to play second fiddle, and she pushed herself forward, speaking in a loud, clear voice "my sister's been begging for fortune cookies. Not those nasty, stale ones that you gave us last time when the fortunes were in Portuguese." Her eyes also swept the room but once they saw Caleb, they moved no more. Instantly, her back straightened, her hand flew to her already flawless hair.

"Hello," she smiled.

"Yes," Lucia cleared her throat, "let me introduce you all to the guardians of water and earth." She faced the confused looking pair and said simply, "Never mind the smell girls. Though, I think you should both sit down."

* * *

**Author:** I can't believe I've updated again! Hahahaha. Well this roll is gonna have to stop because I actually got a real, full-time job, starting tomorrow so I'm back to weekends and late evening writings. There was more to this, I wanted to at least have Irma and Cornelia in guardian form by the end of this chapter, but I needed some more time to introduce their home situations. Hopefully now you guys have a better understanding of why they are the way they are.

No more home drama though, I think Hay Lin is pretty balanced and Taranee will have a lovely, supportive family.

I did my best to write a believable autistic child, but the description may be flawed. I'll try to do the next chapter by the end of next weekend.

Next chapter will be crammed with action. I plan to have Cornelia and Irma go to Meridian to fight off some solders or something. While the other girls find this changeling.

Thanks again for the reviews guys! They mean a lot.


	10. D is for Discipline Part 3

**La Dolce Vita**

**By Seniya**

**D is for Discipline**

**Part Three**

If we don't discipline ourselves, the world will do it for us.

**William Feather**

**

* * *

**

Irma's mother, the late, great Juanita Lair, had died when Irma was only seven years old. It had not been sudden (though it had hurt all the same). She'd battled breast cancer for three long years before she passed. Still, before she'd died, she'd instilled her young daughter with all kinds of values.

Boys, hair, periods but most importantly: illegal drugs. Yes, marijuana, cocaine, heroin (Good catholic Latinas needed to know these things, after all) were taught with the fear of God, so much so that to this day Irma couldn't take an Advil without flinching. This particular lecture came to Irma's mind as she sat in the basement of the Silver Dragon.

"So ... there's an alternate dimension." Irma chewed over the words slowly, hoping that this time, it could make sense. It didn't, and not for the first time, she tried to see if the muck she smelt could possibly be hiding pot.

She and Cornelia had been pushed inside the middle of the room mere minutes after they'd arrived. The basement was small and the overwhelming smell of sulphur made it stifling, that, combined with the bad lighting and the musky smell of the books, made it very uncomfortable.

However, for some reason, she hadn't felt the need to stop the two strange women from tugging her along (hadn't felt anything except a pang of longing for sweet and sour chicken). Cornelia was sitting on a stool beside her, and strangely, she was being very quiet and receptive.

"No," Yan Lin grew tired of explaining, it showed on her face – what was worse was that each second she stayed here talking that damn changeling grew stronger. "There're infinite. But we're only focusing on one right now."

Cornelia, who had stayed at first to get closer to the hot guy she'd seen, and then because she was genuinely curious (and somehow uninspired to leave) finally hit the breaking point at the dimension thing. "First of all, the entire school is gonna know about your paint sniffing ways tomorrow." Cornelia looked at Will, who was propped up in the corner, rolled her eyes and then stood up, "second of all – I seriously appreciate it if none of you ever talked to me again."

"Not a problem," Will muttered.

"Haven't you ever done something weird ... like I once woke up on my roof. Will told me that sometimes she could make the microwave turn off and on." Hay Lin seemed eager to have the pair in their mist, even though she was clearly the only one who felt this way.

"No ..." Cornelia turned up her nose and made her way to the door.

"Actually," Irma looked thoughtful, "the pipes in my house ... they keep coming on by themselves."

"Yeah, it's called lower middle class plumbing." Cornelia adjusted her cashmere cardigan but paused at the doorway. "I'm sorry, but in here reeks like old cheese and if I don't get my sister cookies she'll eat the sofa."

"I think," Lucia indicated her regal head towards Will, "it's time for another approach. Maybe if you saw what we're talking about. Will, if you please."

Will nodded before adjusting herself and the sword in her right hand, concentrating on pushing all of her the energy into the hilt. It was hard to focus with all those eyes on her. Cornelia kept talking in the background ... Irma was laughing nervously.

Sensations and synapses all ignited and smouldered, leaving Will feeling very drained. It was like that sword was a magnet, dragging every piece of her into her right arm where it settled and then magnified. When it was over, Will blinked her eyes rapidly more than twice to clear the bright lights that now clouded her vision while her arm had that prickling sensation like if it had fallen asleep. She'd never had to transform four people before – she felt out of breath.

No one was paying her any attention however, because the new newest transformees were quite the attention getters.

"Look at how friggin' huge my boobs are!" Irma yelled, holding onto to her cleavage ad though they were a gift from God.

"What the hell is this?" Cornelia had noticed she was taller, seen the change of wardrobe (cringe) and then began threatening legal action. "What kind of game is this? Am I on Punked?"

"Oh for God's sake Barbie! Thirty seconds eating a Big Mac doesn't make you Angelina Jolie!"

"Who was talking to you? You're such a jealous, fat troll!"

"Jealous of what? Anorexia and hair extensions? Yeah, that's right, I'm so jealous!"

"Quiet!" Lucia yelled and like Will and Caleb before them, the pair found themselves quite literally, speechless.

"Wow." Hay Lin seemed transfixed by the two of them, she said to Will, "they're worse than you two."

"We do not have time for these childish arguments and games. Do you understand that what we're telling you is true?" Lucia snapped.

It hadn't ever occurred to either of them to consider the realism side to the story. True? Far from it.

Cornelia thought that it was honestly some sort of joke. Since she couldn't voice her opinion, she folded her arms across her chest and tried her best to seem unfazed, although inside she was as rattled as she'd ever been.

Yan Lin nodded, feeling the beginnings of a migraine edge across her temples. There was a large plastic clock on the wall of the basement, the kind you buy at Walmart for four dollars. It ticked and tocked noisily towards six o'clock, reminding the Lins that changelings were deadlier after night fall.

"Will, open a portal. Caleb and I will take them to Meridian."

Irma jumped up, outraged. She made motions that indicated she wasn't going anywhere but of course, couldn't speak. The end result was her doing an odd kind of interpretive dance, which no one appreciated.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Will asked. She remembered her first time being forced over to Meridian – she still hadn't been back, and for good reason. That place gave her the creeps.

"Yes. I'm sure."

"The other two need to stay here with me. There's no reason to waste valuable training time with ..."

"Fine, Yan Lin!" Lucia was growing impatient, it was obvious. Will thought that in the weeks she had known Lucia, the strain of everything seemed to be taking its toll. Gone was the vibrant, witty woman she'd met for the first time in Caleb's chambers. What remained was a dry, tired shell, which always seemed pressed for time.

Will didn't argue anymore. Although she was still tired from the transformations, she concentred on what she could remember of Meridian; the darkness, the hopelessness, and then something else as she remembered waking up on Caleb's bed, surrounded by those bug-eyed cat people.

There was that same elongated line of blinding light after the Blade of Kandrakar slashed through the open space beside her, Lucia didn't wait another second. "Caleb, get the yellow haired one. She looks like a fighter."

She wasn't. Not when Caleb put a hand on her shoulder in any case. Cornelia walked placidly into the noise and haste, with Caleb by her side. Irma however, made a fuss. Eventually, Yan Lin had to go help force her inside the portal. After they'd all disappeared, Will said, "I know it's for the greater good and everything ... but you guys really have to stop kidnapping people's kids."

"You'd better get that naiveté out of your head right now Will." Yan Lin didn't wait another second. She hurriedly went to her cupboards and removed a kettle and another one of her spell books. "Kidnapping is one of the easiest ways to get what you need. Especially tonight."

"What's happening tonight?" Will watched as Yan Lin filled the kettle with water and put it on a Bunsen burner to boil.

"You didn't hear what Cornelia said about her sister?" Hay Lin was smiling.

Will racked her brain, "you mean that she wanted cookies?"

"No, that she'd eat the sofa."

"I'm not following ..."

"Excessive hunger is one of the traits of a changeling. It's obviously possessed that girl's little sister." Yan Lin removed a pouch of leaves from a nearby drawer before telling her grandchild, "go get a flashlight."

"What do you need a flashlight for?"

The high pitched whistle of the kettle almost hid Yan Lin's ominous words, "you'll see."

* * *

There was a temporary reprieve from the overpowering scent of sulphur, _temporary_ being the key word. Almost as quickly as that nose scratching, eye watering, throat burning aroma had left their nostrils, there came another pungent aroma.

Death.

"Oh my God!" It was Cornelia who'd first seen it, almost as soon as her eyes had adjusted to the darkness that covered Meridian. It was difficult to describe, even harder to justify in her mind (for a girl whose life had been blessed at worst) – the sight of hundreds of rotting bodies piled on top of each other.

They stood out gruesomely against the barren landscape. It was made that much worse because there was simply nothing else there. Not a tree, not a road – nothing but the hundred of bloated, blue and grey bodies. Their faces and limbs ripe with decomposition.

Beside her, Caleb stiffened, "they've been dead for days." His voice carried a thousand emotions: remorse, anger, helplessness but his face showed one: resolve.

"W-what's this place?" Cornelia edged closer to the man, her fingers (now ice cold) wrapped around his arm. It was done automatically, because she was afraid, no, terrified, but it didn't hurt her any less when he pulled away and went to inspect the mountain of flesh.

"Will brought us outside the rebel hideout." Caleb answered softly, "she doesn't ever concentrate ... but it is just as well." He turned away just as fast; apparently he'd seen enough, "this is a sign from Phobos. He wants us to see that he knows where we are."

Lucia arrived moments later, with Irma in tow. Irma's screams were now fully audible, as were her bribes for release. "My Dad will have the whole force on your ass in a second!"

Her voice died in her throat. The smell, the sights, they were overwhelming. "Where are we? What's _that_ ... oh my God!" Her answer was obvious and soon Irma found herself distraught. "Oh, yay, I've always wanted hepatitis. Where are we?" Frantic now, and even more desperate for an answer Irma looked to anyone who could help her. "Hello!"

"You're in Meridian." Lucia was also transfixed, the dozens of bracelets on her arms rattled as she swept her fingers through her long, dark hair. "You know that this is a sign, don't you?" She was speaking to Caleb.

"It's obvious. I knew he'd been quiet for too long. He's been planning this attack for weeks. While we've been ..."

"This isn't the time Caleb. We need to look towards the future. How can we stop him? Will and Hay Lin have been training ..."

"Will isn't ready. You send her out there and she'll be killed. Hay Lin is improving but not enough."

It seemed to Cornelia and to Irma, that they'd both been forgotten in this conversation. They looked at each other, briefly, but honestly it was the first real look they'd ever shared.

"Discuss this inside. I'll be ready to lead you to another portal once they're ready to leave." Lucia vanished in that instant.

"How did she do that?" Cornelia asked.

"She's a sorceress."

"A witch?"

"Yes." Caleb walked away from the two girls, his mind was obviously elsewhere. "Do you hear that?" He didn't seem to be speaking to anyone in particular and by then Irma had had enough.

Where ever they were was a desolate place. It was like being in a vacuum, void of light and happiness. All around them were the fragments of trees, houses and walls. It was like walking into a world of memories, bathed in dull, silver moonlight.

"Um, hello ... this is all ... um, well I'm trying to stop swearing ..." Irma's panic was increasing by the second. Her survival skills had dredged up some adrenaline and her body was running on high right now with one purpose in mind: getting the hell out of Dodge.

"No ... listen ... I can ... I can feel it ..." In the meagre rays that came from the eerie twin moons, the look of wonder of Cornelia's face was just barely visible.

"Feel what?" Why wasn't Cornelia more freaked out about this, "Cornelia, haven't you noticed that we're in Edward Cullen's vacation home?"

"Would you stop talking for a second! There's ... someone's coming!"

"It's Phobos' army." Caleb was by their side in the next instant, "we need to move." He took their each of their wrists into his hands and began to pull them forward.

"Excuse me!" Irma yanked her hand away, "I don't hear anything. How do I know that this isn't a ..."

"I can feel it too." Cornelia said in an authoritative way, "stop being difficult!"

"Difficult?" What the hell was Hale's problem? "I was just kidnapped! Are you so freaking horny that you can't ..."

"We need to move!" Caleb had grabbed her again, and this time, regardless of what Irma did, she couldn't pull away.

"There's a curfew – no doubt it's past." He was pulling them through a forest – or at least what had once been a forest, but was now mere bits and pieces of fauna. The ground they walked on was muddy and slick – as they journeyed forward it grew darker still (if that were possible). "They have orders to kill all those who are outside their dwellings."

"I thought you said we were right outside your hideout place!" Irma snapped, Caleb was pulling them along at a breakneck pace and Irma was fighting to keep her balance on the soggy ground.

"We cannot lead them to the hideout. They're women and children ... Hades ..." He stopped dead in his tracks. There, in the midst of the skeletons of trees and the tangles of roots and heavy night fog stood a dozen of Phobos' soldiers.

"Well," There was a monster in the middle of them, half man, half serpent, he towered over the fog and men, "what a s-s-surprise."

* * *

She was strong for a seven year old.

All right, so at first, Will would admit, she'd had a number of problems with hog tying a child and dragging her from her house. Although, that was before said child had sprouted a row of nail sharp teeth and tried to eat her leg.

They had managed to sneak into the Hale house without incident. The adults were upstairs and the little girl was in the kitchen, sitting in front of the open refrigerator door. Her nightgown was covered in food stains – as was her face – but still she was forcing more into her mouth, seemingly unsatisfied.

She hadn't even looked up from her plate of muffins more than once when she saw the three enter the room. No, the pastries were far more important. Changeling Lillian probably wouldn't have bothered with them at all, had Yan Lin not snatched away the muffins and begun to scream long winded Gaelic curses.

That, pissed her off.

And that was how the entire fight started: with the frail seven year old running towards Will (who was the smallest) and attempting to gnaw her leg off. Will, in human form, hadn't even had time to scream before the changeling pushed her to the hardwood floor and sank her razor sharp teeth into her calf.

Hay Lin (who'd been in Will's position the last Changeling attack) took advantage of the distraction to sneak up behind the creature and pour the contents of the kettle all over her head.

Yan Lin was edging closer with the shovel but her granddaughter stopped her, "Nana! You can't hurt the little girl!"

"She's really kinda hurting me though!" Will yelled back. The Blade of Kandrakar was gripped tightly in her fist and Will used that to rap against the top of that blonde head in the hopes it would get her to back off.

Then there was the sound of shuffling footsteps upstairs and they all knew, quite belatedly, that they should have taken this mess outside.

A few seconds later the creature coughed and sputtered and began to hiss, much like a cat getting rid of lunch – Yan Lin's tea had worked.

Yan Lin grabbed the girl by her hair, "what's your name?"

"You know my name old woman!" Lillian screeched in a voice that sounded as though it came right out of Friday the 13th. "Let me go!"

"Release the child!"

Will scrambled to her feet wincing as the pain in her leg travelled upwards. She watched as Hay Lin walked over to the large stove in the corner and placed her shovel on one of the burners.

"Will, transform yourself!"

"Jesus Christ!" The pain in her leg was quite frankly unbearable, Will watched with utter disgust and blood streaked down her leg, "Yan Lin!"

"They're coming Nana!" Hay Lin spoke in a whisper, "quick, tie her up!"

"Will, hurry up!"

"Oh for God ..." The sword's hilt warmed slightly then, and Will forced all of her energy into the blurry image of her guardian form, in the next second, she had grown – and the pain in her leg had vanished.

"Let's go!" Yan Lin had gagged the monster with a wad of Bounty paper towels.

By the time the Hales had descended the stairs, the guardians and Yan Lin were already halfway down the street.

* * *

"Cedric!" Caleb spat, and in that moment the venom in his voice was almost tangible. He tried to push the two girls behind him but it was too late – Cedric's cat-like eyes had already seen them.

He smiled, a gruesome gesture which only seemed to upset his face.

"Kill the boy. And bring the women to me."

What were originally thought be shadows solidified and pushed forward, surrounding the trio in mere seconds. Countless hands rushed out – grabbing, scratching and tugging them apart.

Irma screamed as the muddy earth beneath her gave way and she felt herself falling into an abyss. All she knew was darkness, helplessness and then relief.

Something was happening.

The earth had moved.

Not like an earthquake, because it hadn't even shaken, but simply jerked upwards in pillars and columns of mud, dislodging the shadows, sending them hurtling upwards into the night.

"What was that?" Irma yelled, still flat on her back and muddy.

It was Cornelia who responded, "I-I ... dunno. I-I think ... I-I ..."

"I'm getting the hell outta here!" Irma began to scramble to her feet, but it was harder to do than she first thought – the shadows were back, fingers were on her arms and legs tugging back into the darkness.

The smell of the earth filled her nostrils and her mouth, and then there was something else. A pulse beneath her palms, the swampy muck was calling to her, she could feel it.

Irma turned her body around, trying to slash at the demons clutching at her legs and to her surprise the muck followed, surrounding the creatures face, slipping into its nostrils and mouth. Irma watched as the brute struggled for breath before failing. She saw its eyes widen in that hideous dark face before that too disappeared.

And another pillar of earth stretched upwards to the sky.

* * *

"Will, it is the easiest thing I can tell you to do." In the cemetery again (of course), this group had tied the changeling to a tombstone and by flashlight alone were interrogating the creature – and each other.

"Just zap it!" Yan Lin snapped.

"I can't just zap it. I don't know how to control the zapping thing. I've only done it once."

This discourse had been going on for a while, and Hay Lin was sleepy.

It had been discovered that the tea they had made the changeling sick, but didn't change Lillian back. The next logical solution (at least to Yan Lin) was for Will to use the sword to cleanse the creature, since it did have some healing properties.

Will, however, was being Will.

"Come on Will, just get mad or super happy ..." Hay Lin reconsidered, "no, actually maybe you should just stick with mad."

The summer air was quickly becoming chilly, and the copious trees beside the church chanted angrily in the night breeze.

"I...I don't think it's ...ow!" Will stared open mouthed at Yan Lin, who had just thrown the flashlight at her head, and clipped the side of her shoulder instead.

"What the hell was that for?"

"If you don't want to zap her then we'll have to ..."

"It's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't! Ow! Hay Lin!"

"I'm so sorry Will," and she truly looked like she regretted throwing the chunk of marble at Will, "But seriously, I have a million algebra equations to do."

"What the hell!"

The changeling had been hissing angrily every few seconds whenever the hunger pangs struck, but now it just stared as its three captors began tackling each other. The old woman was quick for her age, or maybe the only advantage she had was that the brunette was on her side and the red head didn't want to fight.

Soon, they were all in a large angry crowd and the next thing the changeling knew there was a sword in its face. And it was (for a lack of a better word) screwed.

There was the foreign sensation of being full – too full – of power, of life, energy – and having it slip past your fingertips, ever so quickly into the hilt of the sword.

* * *

"Retreat!" The shadows were falling back, it was only moments after the shout had gone up that the shadows slipped away and left the three, in absolute quiet.

"Did you ... who were they?"

Caleb, although covered in blood, slick and mud, was smiling – grinning widely from ear to ear. It made him look considerably younger. "Did you see that? Cedric and his minions ran with their tails between their legs!"

"Who's Cedric?" Cornelia, stared at her hands. She sounded shocked, and she was. She had no idea that she was that powerful.

"That creature was Cedric ... he's the leader of Phobos' army. But you," He walked over to Cornelia and held her shoulders in his arms, "you were amazing."

"What about me?" Irma was ecstatic. "I kicked butt!" Cornelia's shock had even registered to her. She'd taken down dozens of shadow solders all by herself. Although she was also covered in mud and gunk as well, she was elated. She'd never been good at something before.

"This is ..." Caleb was still grinning, "do you know what this means?"

Cornelia shook her head mutely, going through the motions as though she were frozen.

"It means we stand a chance! It means that we can win this war ... it means we have hope!"

"God, my tits are huge!"

* * *

**Author:** Another chapter? Lol. The roll continues. Do you see how Cornelia's clinging to Will's man, the nerve! I'm still wondering if to introduce Matt, do let me know your opinion on that. Reviews please and thank you!

**Also, I don't usually reply to my reviews, I don't usually have time (but I appreciate them all the same). But if there's something you want to ask me, just say in your review and I'll definitely get back to you.**

To shrimp features: It's always difficult to write about a character who has special needs. Someone who is autistic or dyslexic or has cerebral palsy. It's difficult, I think, to give someone 100% accurate characteristics because these disorders vary. My cousin is eight and autistic, she has problems with wetting herself especially when she is doing something else, like watching TV or when she is around people she isn't familiar with. She doesn't talk very much and usually repeats what you ask her. She's also easily distracted and throws many tantrums. I based Irma's brother's character off of her but if it offended you in some way, it wasn't my intention.


	11. E is for Empathy Part 1

La Dolce Vita

By Seniya

E is for Empathy

_The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy._

**Meryl Streep**

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* * *

**

Humans can never really be truly lonely. The human mind isn't meant to be an individual. That is why, upon the first touch of isolation, the mind crumbles. Suicide, or its decent into madness is often quick, usually painless.

Those who fight the madness, find other ways to cope.

* * *

The end of September came remarkably fast, although with practices, planning sessions and group meetings, maybe it wasn't that remarkable.

Summer was over, and all the dramatics that had come with it were slowly fading as well. There had been memorial services for all of the deceased girls, a few special broadcasts on the local TV stations and then, that too passed.

Fall was in the air. It was in the yellows and reds on the edges of the trees and in the smell of pumpkin pie as one walked past the town bakery.

There was the touch of cold in the evening winds, and gradually night came home earlier.

Much like the seasons and the heavens, Heatherfield was moving on.

* * *

Taranee Cook was not one to move on. She had a horrible habit of holding things in her heart. It annoyed her beyond comprehension to see that the town had forgotten about the girls.

In fact, it damn well pissed her off.

Actually, before I go on, there is something you should know. Most things pissed Taranee off. Although, not things that could be easily fixed. Things like global warming, racism and the state of the economy.

Another problem she had was that she really couldn't understand why the world couldn't be fixed.

So she had decided, quite a while ago, that fix it she would.

Fix it through placards and chants and witty speeches made on the steps outside of the Town Hall.

Although (to her eternal dismay) she had been born a few decades after the magnificent protests for civil rights and female equality that had shaped this great nation – Taranee had taken the lessons in her history books to heart.

And she put them to good use.

* * *

"We are calling on the Heatherfield Police Department to give us answers!" Taranee Cook was the daughter of two lawyers (one who had recently been voted mayor in the last election) and younger sister of one brother who now was studying law at Howard University.

She had plans to study law as well, in a few years.

It was, after all, part of her grand master plan (decided since she'd been five), to become a powerful environmental attorney and take down a multi-national corporation.

"Do they know what the truth is?" Dressed in a t-shirt she'd gotten at last year's Young Leaders World Conference, linen pants and leather shoes – Taranee was something of a paradox. "Let them know that we know! Stand up for your rights! We have a right to transparency!"

Everyday her mother dropped her off at school in a BMW, Taranee would then reach into her two hundred dollar backpack and retrieve flyers, dozens (printed on recycled paper) of whatever was today's cause.

She'd angrily shove those papers into the unsuspecting arms of her peers, and if they dared to seem less than enthralled by whatever the topic was – she'd launch into another argument.

"Why was Lydia's body never recovered? Where's the police report? Is there a serial killer out there? Are we safe in our own beds ... in our own schools?"

Irma was not in the mood to deal with Taranee today. When she hadn't seen the belligerent girl over the summer or since school had started back, she'd happily assumed she had run off to Europe to be with her kind.

Unfortunately...

"Irma Lair!" Irma rolled her eyes and tried to push past the crowd congregated at the school gate. Taranee was a fast one however (she sometimes did track for extra credit), and had soon caught up.

"What does it feel like to live under the same roof as a liar and deceiver of justice?" She spoke in a loud, clear voice.

"Dunno Taranee, what does it feel like to know your Dad is a closeted homosexual." Louder and clearer still, Irma's bright blue eyes glistened with challenge.

"That's slander if I've ever heard it."

"You need a man or a life. Better both."

Taranee pushed away into the crowd and started another argument with a tall blonde boy from 12th grade – and Irma moved forward, stopping only briefly to pass through the line of security guards and metal detectors stationed out front.

Her muscles were more than a little sore from a weekend of practice and an early morning jog – that she'd tried to skip (but had ended up being dragged from her bedroom window by an over-eager Yan Lin).

Beneath the harsh fluorescent hall lights she spotted a flash of red hair standing in front of a locker, and she rushed over. "I see you've survived Holocaust 101."

Will's dark brown eyes looked up without a sparkle of recognition. She looked bored, as usual, but hidden beneath the nonchalance and deep auburn lashes were dark circles, vivid against her porcelain skin.

Will frowned, "My Dad's Jewish and we don't take well to Holocaust analogies."

Irma shrugged, "Tough crowd. God, my back is killing me and I've got Satan first period and I have yet to conjugate a single French verb. I can hear her tormenting me already, _vous, vous vous_ ..."

Will didn't respond, it's unlikely that she would have, but Irma thought it would be polite to wait anyways – that was until a loud noise from the entrance of the school grabbed her attention.

"Fire!"

A single shout caused a thousand reactions, from screams to a rush of bodies with the single intention of moving towards the back exit of the school.

It wasn't a hoax, there it was, as clear as day – bright orange flames engulfing the space beyond the school's double doors. The heat came in the next instant – that translucent wave that distorted colours and made you feel as though your skin were peeling off.

Irma spared no thought to moving along with the exodus – but a firm arm around her wrist pulled her back against the lockers.

"Irma, use your water powers to put out the fire." Will had to shout to be heard over the crowd – the brunette, through her panic, thought about how strange it would be if someone overheard.

"Are you crazy Will!" Irma flinched as someone trampled over her toes, "What if people see?"

"It doesn't matter! Do you want the school to burn down?"

"Um, kinda ... yeah."

"Stop it! This is serious, people could get hurt." Someone jabbed Will in her side and the petite girl didn't waste a second before shoving them back. "Look, I'll kill the lights ok ... so no one will see you."

Irma looked skittish, but Will had already closed her eyes, and the look of pure concentration had come over her face.

"I can't believe this ..." Behind her, the metal lockers began to rattle ever so subtly. Irma took a moment to ensure that all three hundred students and teachers were still trying to squeeze through the single door in the back before pushing through the crowd and heading in the opposite direction, to the entrance.

"Oh my God!" More screams as some locker doors leapt open on their own accord and two of the ceiling lights shattered, causing glass to rain down on the already frazzled crowd.

"Two lights Will?" Irma pushed forward still, knowing full well that anyone who cared to could and would see her.

There was no one closer to the entrance, even the security guards had long disappeared – leaving the metal detectors, two lone brave sentinels guarding the fortress.

Although not for long.

The heat from the fire had already begun to affect them; the one on the right was already starting to bend in the centre, forming a strange V shaped arc.

The flames rose like nothing Irma had even seen before. They were a single column, about 10 feet wide and 30 feet tall. They didn't move, didn't spread, didn't smoke, just stayed in that single spot, causing the concrete beneath it to crackle and pop.

"How the hell am I supposed to get rid of ..." Irma looked behind her for Will – for some advice – a mage or some Yoda like creature bearing wisdom. However, the only thing behind her was the screaming crowd and before her stood the metaphorical ogre.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a fire extinguisher – well, why not?

The mechanics of this rescue plot were just about to align themselves in her mind when the fire vanished.

Just like that – just as quickly as it had come.

If it hadn't been for the charred black spots on the walkway, Irma would have sworn she'd been dreaming.

That – and the fact that there was a very bewildered looking Taranee Cook staring right back at her.

* * *

"I swear ... it had to be her!" Sitting in the basement of Yan Lin's restaurant, eating a microwaved version of yesterday's Won Ton Soup, Irma felt excited.

She'd found the final guardian of course, and even though there wasn't who she wanted it to be less – the fact she'd done this feat, was making up for it.

Irma and Will had come here after the medical personnel had checked each and every student and staff member to ensure that they were all "good to go". School had been dismissed early of course, and the pair had decided to come to the Silver Dragon rather than return to their respective homes.

Will, was being Will. "I dunno ... are you sure you didn't just make the fire go away by yourself?"

"How would I?"

"It's just weird that's all. She wasn't even transformed. How could she have so much power? When I'm not in my Guardian state ... I can't even get the lights to turn off ..."

"Speaking of which," Irma paused with her chopsticks in mid-air to make a point, "real let-down Will, your master-plan to kill the lights. Stevie Wonder could have spotted me."

"I ..." Will stared into her soup ... a thin layer of grease floated on top of the clear orange liquid, dotted with little dough balls. "Whatever ..."

"Hi guys!" Hay Lin, wearing a bright floral dress that would have been better on the beaches of Barbados, rather than in the near-autumn chill of September, sauntered into the basement. "Did school finish early?"

"There was a fire." Irma chomped.

"Really?" The Asian girl yawned (a pitiful reaction really), "I was upstairs doing some calculus ... but I didn't hear any sirens or anything."

"That's because it was some weirdo-psycho-zombie fire. Oh, I found the other guardian!"

"Stop saying that, you don't know for sure ..."

"Will's such a downer. Drink your soup Will."

"So what's she like?" Hay Lin caught onto the excitement, she placed her chin into her palms and looked from Will to Irma for answers.

"She's a pain. If your shoes are made in Vietnam or something, she'll try to saw your toes off on behalf of the orphans who can't ..."

"Wow." Hay Lin seemed to be in awe. Really, this was a new experience for her; she'd never had so many friends. "I'll tell Nana, but it's the lunch time rush now, and she says that she's about to go off on a mother ... well I can't say that word."

"All right, what's this about an emergency?" Cornelia, smelling strongly of Chanel No.5 and dressed to the nines in skinny jeans, wedges and an expensive looking top, walked in.

"God _Corny_, if you showered you wouldn't have to bathe in cologne."

"If a smell is bothering you _Irmee_, it's probably your upper lip."

"All right," Will got to her feet, "I called everybody here because ..."

"Hold up Will ..." Irma faced Cornelia, "why weren't you at practice this morning?"

Cornelia rolled her eyes and stepped closer to one of the gigantic bookcases. "Um ... because, like I explained to Yan Lin, I have voice lessons at 7 and I just can't be expected ..."

"Will, tell Cornelia that no special rules apply for her." Irma snapped.

"Will is not the boss of me. Besides, I don't need to practice as much as the rest of you! I'm already ..."

"You guys ... I really wish you'd stop fighting sometimes ... because all the yelling ..." Hay Lin tried to make peace, but the war was already lost.

"Are you kidding me? My powers are way better than yours. At least I can actually do something! What are you gonna do sprout leaves and go Tarzan ..."

"I called you here because I think we should move practices to Meridian! The time works faster over there and we can get more in ..." but the rambling continued, and Will, never one to persist for very long, thought about going home and crawling into bed.

"What's all the noise about?" However, when Caleb walked in, it was to silence.

"Caleb," Cornelia straightened her hair, her bracelets and then her top. "H-How are you ..."

Irma snickered.

"I am well Cornelia. I could almost hear you from Meridian –"

Hay Lin laughed suddenly, "No you couldn't ... oh that's a joke ... I get it."

"No you didn't Hay Lin. It was a stupid joke." Will replied.

"This noise ... you were having a disagreement?" Ever since Cornelia and Irma had joined the team, Caleb had seen a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, he had met hope, and now he was almost cheerful, he made jokes and even sometimes laughed.

Some might even say that he was downright chipper.

Caleb sat down at the table across from Will, who scowled. Cornelia, oblivious, pulled a stool closer to Caleb's side and also sat while watching his profile with rapt attention.

"I wanted to speak with you ... all of you. I have been thinking that we should move training sessions to Meridian. It's safer now than before ... and it doesn't even matter because we can defeat almost anything Phobos sends our way." He was practically beaming. "If we go to Meridian, we can save more time and the people can see and meet all of you ... and then that will give them hope."

"I completely agree." Cornelia said without a moment's hesitation.

"Of course you do." Irma cooed.

"Well I think it's great." Hay Lin chirped, and then added, "Do you think I could do my homework over there too? Then I could do twice as much."

"Will?" Caleb fixed his powerful green eyes on the redhead, who was still scowling.

"Yeah ... whatever."

"Whatever is Will speak for hell yeah," Irma snorted and Hay Lin giggled.

"Caleb, we've found another guardian ..." Hay Lin began.

"Not we ... _I_ found her. What are we gonna do kidnap her like what you did to us? You know ... we should totally haze her before she can join ..."

"Are you certain?" Caleb asked.

"Pretty sure. Well I mean giant columns of fire don't just pop up." Irma shrugged.

"They might ... on this chat room, this lady said some aliens from Xanazazu communicate with Devil people through fire columns ... mostly from her back yard though." Hay Lin looked thoughtful.

She was ignored.

"You should keep this to yourselves until you are certain. I shall tell Lucia when I return home."

Caleb moved to stand and Cornelia mirrored his actions. "Are you going already?"

"Yes ... I have promised to meet with some soldiers from the Northern cities. They've travelled from very far and I cannot be late."

"You heard the man Corny. Now wipe off that saliva and pull your self-respect from off the floor." Irma grinned.

There was a comeback on the tip of Cornelia's tongue but she swallowed it and smiled. She would do anything to remain calm and mature in this situation.

"Bye Caleb," sang Hay Lin, before reaching for Will's untouched soup carton.

"Will," There was a heavy hand on her shoulder. "I would like a word with you." He wished his words didn't sound so loud and rough in the tiny room. A stupid thing to think or feel really – and an all together unfamiliar sensation.

Will felt the warmth from his hand, felt it through the fleece of her sweatshirt. It tingled, she spoke, "I would, but I can't really guarantee _one_ word now can I ... so ..."

Caleb, who had no knack for subtlety or twenty-first century tact, was as a result, needlessly blunt. "It was not a request."

"Maybe it should be."

Silence.

"In the name of the _Gods_ ..." He grabbed her by the hood of her sweatshirt and pulled her roughly off of her seat.

She complained every step of the way and the other three guardians watched, with terribly concealed interest, until Caleb shut the basement door behind them.

"W-What ..." It was Cornelia who broke the silence. She hadn't liked what she'd just seen, "what time did you say practice was again."

* * *

"Lucia is missing." In a dimly lit corner of the narrow corridor that led to the basement, Caleb blurted out what he'd come to Earth to explain to Will.

Will, who'd been sulking and looking for a way to avoid both Caleb's eyes and his arms (pressed on the wall and touching her shoulders), looked up. "What? When?"

"I recieved word of it this morning. She lives on her own in a village far to the East, so it's difficult to say when she would have gone ..."

"Did she just leave? You can't be sure that she's missing."

Caleb watched Will in silence for a few moments, their eyes met, and she quickly looked away. "Lucia ... she would tell me if she had left."

The heavy scent of dust, age and soy sauce lingered about them, gradually, the air grew warm, later still it grew stagnant. "Why?"

"It is not your place to ask."

It was clear what the reason was – at least in Will's mind, and the knowledge caused a heavy knot of emotion to clog up her lungs. "I understand."

Caleb sighed, he could tell what she thought – despite the frequent language barrier, he always seemed to know what she was thinking, "I've known her since I was a boy. She took care of me _in a way_ ... after my father passed."

"Oh ..." The tension in her chest eased – for whatever reason. "How did your father die?"

"A sickness of the blood. My four older brothers also succumb."

"But not you."

"Not me."

This time when he sought her gaze, she held it – gazing into the myriad of greens in his eyes – mosses and leaves and jewels.

"Someone has taken her. You must know who I think it is."

"Yeah." Will mumbled. "I know."

* * *

**Author:** It's me! God, I had this story in my Fanfiction folder for months! Been swamped and stressed with work and other adventures. The thing is I'm a professional news (yawn I mean journalist) writer. And after a long day of typing away, the last thing I need to see at home is Microsoft Word.

Well guys, I'm much grateful for the support and comments. I've listened and no Matt, maybe he'll make a cameo but no love interests.

I had some more planned for this chapter, but that'll come later. This chapter is also important, I think. I wanted to show the interaction between the girls. The fact that no one listens to Will, but Caleb does see her as the leader. Also wanted to highlight the fact that Will still has problems with her powers and I want you to note how Caleb's Dad died.

Think that's all. I will begin writing part 2 of this sometime this week.

Again, please review!


	12. E is for Empathy Part 2

**La Dolce Vita**

**By Seniya**

E is for Empathy

Part Two

When you start to develop your powers of empathy and imagination, the whole world opens up to you.

**Susan Sarandon **

* * *

It is rather hard to blame someone for something that they do not know how to do. Hard yes, but not all together impossible; especially when this something was _something_ that they were required to know.

This would potentially be the sole argument on Phobos' behalf for why he had allowed Meridian to fall into complete chaos under his rule.

_He didn't know._

A sickly child, he and his health had been guarded with the utmost caution and care and when he'd suddenly become the _heir_ ...

Well, his father had only shown him what he thought was necessary for him to know: create an army; ensure the villagers never revolted; collect taxes; live.

Above everything else, he must live.

* * *

Deep within the dungeons of the castle, there was darkness. Darkness and fear, who had mated many years ago and allowed their children – sorrow, confusion and panic, to run amuck in the place.

One couldn't see the hand in front of one's face down there.

That was the point.

The former King Aries had built the castle with the dungeons in mind. He had been a devil (by even his mother's accounts) and had delighted in the thought and actuality of suffering.

The legends of his cruelties had long surpassed the realities – some stories (like the ones where he'd killed his own mother and sisters to take the throne) – were too gruesome to think of.

When he'd been in power these dungeons had been Hades on Meridian. A virtual cesspool of despair meant to challenge enemies and prove a single's man's power to all who dared to doubt it.

There were chains on the walls. Chains and contraptions too elaborate to describe, created for ensuring the most pain possible in the longest period of time. There must be blood as well, although it was too dark for anyone to see it.

A small blessing.

Now, these dungeons had fallen into disrepair. No one was sent there anymore. Phobos, unlike his father, didn't care whether he was feared or not.

In his narcissistic world, there was only him – and few others mattered enough to have opinions.

Actually, Phobos was not sure what Cedric did with the prisoners he and the army collected, but they certainly did not bring them here.

Maybe he ate them.

The thought made Phobos smile, not out of joy or satisfaction – but because he had seen the foolish image in his mind of the snake-man sitting down for supper with a human hand on his plate.

He smiled again.

* * *

These were the dungeons Phobos had taken Lucia. He'd captured her almost a week ago and was very pleased with the decision.

Lucia was a good one to have as a captive. She was a witch – knew thousands of spells (maybe more) and even better, she knew where the heart of Kandrakar was.

She was invaluable.

Not that he let her know that.

He had awoken this morning to a particularly nasty bout of sickness. To his mutual disgust and terror he had coughed up thick yellow phlegm this morning, mingled with dark specks of crimson.

Blood.

The blood sickness was back again.

Nothing his dozens of healers, physicians and alchemists could say would calm him. He saw it now as clearly as he had on the day his father died.

There was no time to waste.

There was too much pride in this woman. Phobos said that the moment he'd met her. That particular instance had been many years ago, when he'd been little more than a boy. She was probably centuries old – this woman – and it baffled his mind how she could manage to look his age.

That particular fact intrigued him all the more.

Down the stairs he went, in the most ungodly hours of the morning. When the world was still silent and the morning moon hadn't even thought to wake.

Through the corridors and past the maze of winding doors and chambers until he finally reached the one had had chosen for his prisoner. He was careful to extinguish his torch before reaching for the ring of keys inside his pocket – just as careful as he had been to come alone.

The door creaked menacingly when he pushed it open. No light entered the space, and only the smell of age, rot and dust greeted him.

Phobos needed no special greeting.

Not even from the captive he knew was staring daggers at his chest.

"Lucia."

She didn't reply. Had he been a lesser trained man, he would have imagined that she'd somehow escaped. He couldn't even feel her.

But he knew the tricks of this particular witch. She'd dropped her energy level so low that it was a miracle that she was alive.

He could still sense it though. Throbbing beneath the surface of the heavy silence was the pulse of awareness.

"I can _feel_ you. Much to your own ... disappointment."

There was the sudden burst of energy – Phobos was not surprised (it was a great deal harder to hide energy than show it) – followed by the whisper of breath.

"Phobos. I do so wish I could say that your visit was a pleasure. But we both know it is no such thing." Her voice was raw and tired – fighting, though not vanquished.

"You have no right to speak my name on your vile lips."

"My apologies my King – I do hope you'll forgive the mess. My hands are all tied up," He heard the rattle of chains, "and I haven't had the time to tidy."

She laughed.

"There's no time for your foolishness, witch. Where, is the heart of Kandrakar?"

"Why in the name of the Gods would you suppose I know ..."

He felt his patience ebbing. "I saw you! I saw her!"

"Oh Pho – I do beg your forgiveness – my infinite majesty – I know no hers nor yous. It seems you are mistaken – AAHHHH!"

He had already stormed out. Out into the darkness, into the corridors that highlighted his father's legacy. The witch's screams followed him out, until he had climbed all the stairs that led to his throne room.

* * *

"Cedric!" He hollered, while the crowds of footmen shuddered. "Where is that accursed ..."

"Your majesssssty." Half snake and half man, the creature slithered in. His tongue, nearly a foot long in his present state, hung lewdly out of his mouth as he moved forward.

"T-that woman! That _witch_!" He was losing his composure, Cedric noted that his face was growing pinker, and his hair was askew. He couldn't lose his calm – stress was unnecessary – stress would only abbreviate his already short life.

"S-SSire ... pleassse ... calm yourssself."

"You ..." Phobos whipped around suddenly, a flurry of remarkable, white robes, stained with blood at the front – "You will go to earth. Find my sister. Bring her here. Now!"

* * *

Eric Lyndon was chronically late. It wasn't his fault (although his teachers disagreed) it just came with the trade.

"The trade" being helping his grandfather in the town's faltering observatory – it often kept him up late into the night (after all, one couldn't watch the stars during the day). The family couldn't afford to hire any extra help right now (they blamed the recession, not the fact that astrology was a useless profession) so Eric always had to pull the extra weight.

That coupled with his passion for ghost hunting – made him less than a stellar student.

However, Eric's grades aren't the purpose of today's story. The purpose of this particular story is to explain why Eric had seen what he had yesterday.

He'd been late, naturally. He was casually sauntering to school with his head buried in a book of urban legends – but he'd seen it still. Pillars of fire. Columns of flame. His mouth had watered like a weight watchers group in Baskin Robins.

He'd almost lost control of his bowels in the excitement he felt when he saw Taranee Cooke in the middle of it all.

Eric had forgotten all about school (and that pesky need for an education) and ran back home to research.

Which brings us to today.

* * *

Heatherfield High School was closed for a second day, much to the delight to many of the students, who took the time to reclaim the last dregs of summer.

It was a clear day, a little bit chilly, but good enough for sun bathing and fishing and all the other things the teenagers in Heatherfield busied themselves with when they felt their parents weren't watching.

Taranee hadn't been invited to any of the fishing trips or sunbathing excursions – the truth was she wasn't very popular at school. It didn't bother her much though. Taranee was one of those rare persons who believed, quite frankly, that she was always right. As a direct result, once you disagreed with her, you were always wrong.

She had one friend. Lydia Boyce, who had died while she'd been away for the summer.

Just the thought left a bitter taste in her throat. Lydia had been kidnapped, returned home and then vanished again. What made the entire thing worse was that the idiots at the Heatherfield Police Station refused to do anything about it.

Her mother wouldn't even push an investigation into the matter seriously.

The thought angered Taranee even more, but she tried to quell the burn of rage in her heart. She could still remember what happened last time.

Oh yes, Taranee was aware of her little problem. She'd been bursting into flame at random intervals ever since the Republicans had won the majority in the Senate. She panicked, at first, but then decided to look at the matter rationally.

A quick google told her that what had actually happened was human combustion.

Quite common.

Not really.

But it was the most sensible explanation she could find, so she clung to it like a drowning man hung onto his last breath.

Besides, once she kept her temper in check, everything was fine.

Yesterday had been a mistake – that stupid Uriah Butler had gotten on her last nerve by reminding her of Lydia – anyways ... it wouldn't happen again.

* * *

It had been half way to noon when the door bell had rang. Taranee had been catching up on a week's worth of homework at the time and had contemplated if to just let that annoying visitor go on their merry way before deciding, it just might be important.

It wasn't, she soon realised. It was just Eric Lyndon, chronic school skipper and general nuisance.

"Err... Taranee," he seemed surprised to see her in one piece.

"Yes Eric." She folded her arms across her Bob Marley t-shirt and frowned deeply (she may have just been the only 15 year old with crow's feet).

"I ... um ... wanted to talk to you about ... um ..."

"Eric, look I don't believe in aliens or Area 51 or Nostradamus, I don't care what you saw in your little telescope ..."

"I hate the ... um ... Heatherfield Police. I mean ... they're so incompetent ... I ..."

Her mood brightened, "why, yes they are incompetent. Not to mention terribly under staffed and under educated. Their role model is Horatio from CSI."

Eric erupted into a chorus of laughter, "yes, yes ... you're so right. I feel ... so mad about it ... I didn't know who else to come to."

Taranee nodded with great importance. Finally, these hicks were starting to come around. "Eric, why don't you come inside, I'll make some gluten free sandwiches and we can talk."

"Oh," his stomach dropped, "yum, I hate gluten."

A great warmth spread through Taranee's entire being – could she have really misjudged this young man?

She invited him in, chattering all the while a long practised speech about why the Heatherfield Police Department would be better if she were in charge.

Eric followed uncertainly, his heavy backpack causing his shoulders to strain. He followed her cautiously, all the while his eyes wandered along the clear white walls of the foyer. Every inch of this house was covered in artefacts and souvenirs. He saw masks from Africa, hand painted scarves from India, a collection of wines from Italy.

Careful not to rouse her suspicion (in case she burst into flames again) Eric carefully reached into the side pocket of his backpack and retrieved his compass.

It hadn't been working very well recently ... but ... holy shitnick – in here it was going berserk.

She really was ...

He moved closer, his wide eyes transfixed on the silver needle being pulled back and forth across the clear white background.

Eric never realised that he'd bumped in Taranee, what was worse was that he never really saw the look of absolute rage behind the wire framed glasses.

"What are you doing?"

"What ... I ..." He watched her with surprise in his eyes, and then tried to pull the compass behind his back. She was too fast for him. Taranee grabbed the device, looked at it once and then threw it against the hardwood floor.

"What the ... hell ... that was really expensive!" It had shattered instantly into a heap of silver pieces.

"I'll bet. Get out of my house. What do you think you were doing?" She was clearly furious – he thought he could smell smoke.

"I-I ..." he wouldn't be intimidated by her. "I know what you are!"

She froze.

"I saw you yesterday at school. I looked it up all last night. I know what you are."

Taranee looked as though she would laugh, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes! Yes you do," he was searching for the upper hand, but those fingers were just out of reach. "I know exactly what you are ... and I can help you ..."

"Really?" Taranee raised a thick eyebrow, "well, what am I?"

Eric took a steadying breath, "They're called Ban in China .. or maybe Ren. They claimed to be descendants of the dragons. They still had some of the traits, like fire ..."

"You think that I am _what_?"

"You're a dragon! Well, half dragon ... I know this may seem weird but actually these kinds of things are pretty common, especially in Heatherfield."

"Eric," She raised her hand for silence, "I don't know what you're talking about. In fact, I don't think you know what you're talking about either."

"What ... look ... you may be afraid, but I can help you ... if you even want help ... if it was me, I'd join a circus!"

"No, you don't know what you're talking about and you won't tell a single person about this. Will you?"

Truth be told, he'd already told a few on his online blog. "Taranee ..."

He watched as she collected the pieces of his broken compass off the floor and then pulled open his hand. He was shaking and her fingers were frightfully warm.

"Go home Eric."

She'd given him a handful of ashes.

* * *

"I need my sister." Phobos spoke to himself, not to anyone else – there was no one else in the world that he would allow to hear him say words like need.

There was blood all along his lips, dribbling slowly down his neck and staining the front of his once immaculate white robes.

He sat inside his special room. Half a shrine to his dead mother and the other half – a shrine to his madness.

It was decorated with corpses of young girls he had tried to experiment on. At first he tried to find a way to drain their blood – women couldn't catch the blood sickness, there had to be a reason why – and then he'd tried to steal their souls.

He'd leave this body if that's what it took to live.

It really was a pity that none of the girls had taken to him.

The smell didn't bother Phobos.

His blood did.

"I need my sister."

* * *

**Author:** I wrote this all today. I'm quite proud of the haste. Not a lot for the overall plot, but it's something to tide you over until.

All right, so after this section with Taranee, the real stuff will begin. Cedric is coming to Earth, the princess will be found, all will be right in the WITCH world.

Thanks for the unwavering support.


	13. E is for Empathy Part 3

**La Dolce Vita**

By Seniya

**E is for Empathy**

Part 3

_"Empathy is the love fire of sweet remembrance and shared understanding." John Eaton_

* * *

In the quiet recess of the sunset, the fleeting sun's rays held the door open for the entrance of the twilight, while trouble brewed.

You couldn't see this trouble – couldn't even smell it as it heated up over the flames of time. The rank steam evaporated and climbed steadily upwards, heating the evening breeze, becoming so unbearable that even the night balked.

* * *

Eric wasn't one to ask for help. A stubborn kind of boy, and more than a little bit of a glory hog, he preferred to suffer through the difficulty of every puzzle all by himself, if only to savour the inevitable victory – again by himself.

However, this time – with a hot-headed half dragon creature loose in Heatherfield (with an infamously short fuse), he supposed he could live with a half-credit.

And that was why Eric had run to the Silver Dragon, a full two hours after closing time: to ask for help.

He had hoped Hay Lin would have opened the door, she was much kinder, and had a more than obvious crush on him – but fate would not be kind tonight and it was the Lin matriarch who answered his prolonged knocking.

"Closed!" She snapped, once her narrowed eyes saw who had darkened her door.

"Y-Yan Lin ... Jesus that's my foot!" He had pushed the same time that she had shoved and the end result, just as all laws of motion conclude, the greater force won out – and poor Eric was trapped with his good shoe in between two planks of wood and a very mean old lady.

She shoved a good two more times before finally allowing him inside.

Eric, whimpering with both injured pride and toes, stumbled into the sticky heat of the Silver Dragon's main dining room, mentally cursing Yan Lin to damnation as he hobbled.

"You're an evil old lady, d'you know that?" An evil old witch who never bothered to use the air conditioning after six o'clock – a fact that caused a tsunami of heat to wash over Eric as he struggled to recover among the linoleum floors and wrought iron tables.

"Yet, you're always here." Through the dim light from the tacky paper lanterns tacked onto the ceilings and walls, he could see every harsh line on the old woman's face. Her skin seemed parchment thin, although none the weaker for it.

"I need your help." Eric bit out, the words sounded nasty on his tongue, so much so that he attempted to absorb some of the Lysol that obnoxiously floated through the heavy air to melt the taste away.

"Eric, I am a very busy woman ..."

"I know rolling dumplings must take up an immense amount of your time ..." The slap came before he could react, and suddenly he had ringing ears as well as throbbing toes to contend with "...look it's important."

Yan Lin snorted, "What?" She raised her voice to a nasal girlish squeal, "Kappas?"

Now that was a low blow. It took Eric a while to regain his composure and even then he thought about storming outside. She knew that his failure to find any evidence of Kappa habitation in Heatherfield was a sensitive topic!

"I've found a half-dragon fire breathing mad-woman."

He watched as she blinked. Once. Twice.

"Eric, go home."

"I'm serious! You know about the fire at the school yesterday?" And then he proceeded to rattle off the entire long winded explanation that involved his broken compass, broken pride and now (potentially) broken foot.

Yan Lin frowned, but something in the boy's story had clicked. She briefly remembered Hay Lin and her talkative water friend chattering on about finding a fire guardian. It had been during the lunch time grind ... she couldn't remember specifics.

And the girls had been gone for more than half an hour – would be gone for another hour still.

Shit.

The things she did for the good of the universe. "All right, Eric. Where is the fire-breather?"

* * *

Cedric wasn't human.

In his short life, he had used that statement as a defence, as a threat and as an opening line for battle.

So save your sympathy, because it wasn't as though he minded.

People, even Meridian people, expected things from humans – a link to Earth, perhaps goodness, empathy ... all those fragments of humanity that Cedric had never been taught to understand. He hadn't been born. He'd been made. A reality that stemmed from the desires of his master's own twisted fantasies.

He was half serpent, half man.

He had no memories, no desires and no fears. He only did as he was told.

He kept Meridian obedient. And he hadn't received a single complaint from his Master so far.

* * *

The soldiers of Meridian's Army were quite frankly the dregs of society. Bottom feeders, and psychopaths – Cedric had raided the old prisons to find officers during his first week as captain.

Now, it was lunch, which translated to a gruesome two hour fest that often ended up in bloody brawls in the castle's foyer.

The multitude of mile long tables that had once lined the entry hall had long been reduced to splinters and fire wood. There were no chairs or benches, and the tapestries on the walls were bloodied and torn.

The soldiers ate on the floor. They fought on the floor. They mated, shat and slept on that floor. Really, the floor was the centre of their community, not that the beasts saw in that way.

The castle's lone chef worked for Phobos, and was literally kept under lock and key to satisfy the King's fickle palate. As a result, the army kept themselves fed through raids on the villages and the nearby farms.

Today's lunch time feast consisted of fresh Hoogong meat – Hoogongs were the army's preferred method of transportation, which meant one thing, Cedric knew as he examined the bloody flesh.

The imbeciles had raided the stables for lunch.

"You foolsss!" He hissed, kicking the first soldier he came across squarely in the jaw. The burly man howled in pain but didn't dare react – had any other soldier struck him, he'd be dead but now, but not Cedric.

"I s-supposse that I'll be riding you into the village tonight!" He was in a foul mood. Who wouldn't be, after being told he would have to maintain a human form for Hades knew how long.

But he couldn't really feel anything but the mere edge of discontent, so great was his compulsion to obey.

"You foolssss do not think!" With a swipe of his might tail he caused one of the last tables to crumble. Some of the men edged away, while others stayed still wishing in that moment to appear invincible – because perhaps Cedric noticed.

He didn't.

The rant continued and more splinters and shattered rock fell in his wake ... and perhaps would have continued, had a particular intrusion not occurred at precisely that time.

A giant of a man, all muscles, sinew and a flash of bright orange hair rushed through the chaos to stand before the irate leader of the army. Many a man would tremble, but not Baldorn.

He'd travelled for hours to get to this fortress, and there was barely enough time to sit, stretch and speak before he'd be forced to leave again (lest someone recognise his absence). "My Lord."

The rough baritone was muted by the sound of unbridled rage, but not quelled all together. "Baldorn," Wide yellow eyes narrowed on the subject, "Good newssss I hope."

"The guardians of the veil. They are coming. They may be here ... even as I speak."

The words caused a myriad of reactions from the soldiers, from shock to confusion – but one was prominent, nearly tangible: excitement.

Cedric grinned, a gruesome sight as one can imagine, watching those thin reptilian lips curve upwards in a way too heinous to be human. Not as though he'd mind.

He wasn't human, after all.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

* * *

It had not been difficult to get rid of Eric. Yan Lin would be the first to tell anyone who wasn't lucid enough to notice – she was as old as ass. More than eight decades of knowledge, wisdom and wit was whittled into her being, even if it wasn't always obvious.

Not that it had been difficult to outsmart Eric, a quick tap to the brachial plexus (look it up) and he was out like the Red Sox.

The Cooks lived in a large, upper middle class type of house. It was new, less than 10 years old, but designed to look like something from the middle of the Victorian era. They were strange beings the Cooks, Yan Lin had always thought – a pretentious lot who flaunted their money and education with a self-righteous kind of zeal.

Still, if their youngest suddenly had some sort of value to her ... well, she had certainly learnt how to schmooze in those eighty plus years.

Yan Lin, a first for her, walked up the narrow walkway and knocked on the front door. The parents weren't home, the oldest boy was off at Brown or Howard or Yale or something ... so that meant ...

"Mrs Lin." Taranee didn't even have the tact to look surprised. "I guess that little monkey told."

"You'll learn never to tell him anything." Yan Lin watched her carefully, right age ... slightly higher energy level than normal. She was hiding it ... _someone had taught her how to hide it._ "Enough small talk. I suppose you may have noticed that you've been bursting into flame, well, let me ..."

"Combustion." She looked contrite.

"No." Yan Lin never liked to be interrupted. "You are, in fact ..."

"I know what I am." And then quite suddenly, the old woman found herself shocked.

"What are you?" She fought to regain her composure. It was strange to be standing there on the too neat porch in the middle of a perfectly manicured front lawn in the "nice" part of town talking about mythology.

The sprinklers from the neighbours hissed in the distance and there was the sound of footsteps pounding the sidewalk as someone went for their evening jog.

"Cut the crap Yan Lin. I know what you are too."

"Do you?" Her lips tightened though, and she was certain that those brown eyes noticed.

"Guardian of Air. Circa 1940. Yeah, I'm researched." Taranee folded her arms across her front and leaned against the doorway. She looked positively smug.

Yan Lin, to her credit, managed to feign nonchalance, "how can you possibly know?"

The girl shrugged, clicked her tongue but didn't open her mouth.

"Why won't you say how you came about this research?" She couldn't exactly let this bit of information go.

"Wikipedia, google ... you know how it goes."

"It doesn't go like that."

Through the sweet night air, too sweet to be summer, too salty to be autumn – Taranee sighed. "I was umm ... told you might come. I'm not expected to be a part of your band of merry Sailor Scouts. The problems in Meridian aren't ... what I mean to say is ... now that the Blade of Kandrakar has been removed ... there are bigger fish to fry."

"You're not making any sense." But it was a familiar topic. Her mind raced – because she knew that she'd heard it all before.

"That sword is crucial. Crucial to the very fibre of our existence and ..."

"Stop." Yan Lin said. There was a certain edge of pride in her voice because she had always known that although the arthritis, high blood pressure and liver spots may claim otherwise – her mind wasn't that old.

"What ..."

"I've heard this speech before. Oracle, circa 1946. That's the thing about immortal beings, their mantras never change. Halinor, you dried out whore. Where are you?" That bit she spoke louder, but really it was unnecessary. If it was who she thought it was ... there was no doubt that she had been listening in from the very start.

Taranee began to panic. "H-How do you ..."

"Lesson one child. I am as old as fuck." She was truly proud of it. "And somewhere along this life of mine, I did actually learn everything."

"Yan Lin. There's no need to be rude." There was a slight pop, a ripple in the very fabric, essence and sanctity of time – and suddenly there were three persons standing on that front porch in the nice part of town. "I wish I could say you'd aged well but ..."

"Well, we can't all hold ourselves together with black magic and duck tape." Yan Lin quipped. She wasn't happy to see her old colleague. Things were complicated between the remaining three old guardians – how couldn't they be? But there was something in Halinor's faded ice blonde hair and dusty blue eyes that made Yan's chest ache with nostalgia.

"Taranee go inside." Halinor, former guardian of fire and new advisor to the Oracle on the Council of Kandrakar (thank you very much), was dressed in immaculate white robes, embroidered around the edges with beautiful gold thread. "Yan Lin," She watched Yan Lin's attire of soup covered apron and thick red sweatpants with obvious distaste. "You won't bother her again."

Yan Lin didn't miss a beat. Having Halinor here added a completely different flavour to the stew (as it were). "What does the Oracle want with one particular guardian?"

Taranee had obeyed, obviously sensing tension – she rushed inside to go back to her room.

The door clicked shut and there was the meticulous thump of feet before Halinor decided to speak. "You act like I'll tell you."

"All right then, tell me this, what have you been filling her head with about Meridian? The guardians protect the veil. The veil disintegrates when either side goes out of control! How can you have her spewing trash about the blade?"

"Trash?" If she could sound upset, she would have. However, the blonde was the epitome of the ice princess. "May I remind you that the heart of Kandrakar is the single most powerful magical entity in the Universe."

This was really too much, thought Yan Lin. "Guardians guard the veil! Do you hear the name? _Guard_-ian? Do you think that was an over sight?"

"If you would open your eyes you would realise that the blade is in danger!" Halinor edged closer, she acted as though if anyone who overheard would think this was anything but the ramblings of two senile old women. "That little girl you have toting that sword around in a guitar case! She went to Nerissa. Nerissa brought her to Mount Thanos! Do you understand what that means?"

"I am training Will." She understood. Yan Lin understood better than she would ever let on. "She is improving ..."

"Improving? Do you remember how Nerissa was?" Yan Lin smirked when she heard that, as if she could forget. "No one has ever wielded that blade like her!"

"Nerissa was obsessed!" She argued. "You cannot compare Wilhelmina ..."

"Exactly! _Obsessed_ and you're crazy if you think 64 years locked away has changed how she feels."

The last sentence hung in the air for a few long moments.

"We've never had a situation like this." Halinor finally explained. "The way the guardians operate has to be changed. We are leaving you with four. That is more than enough. Taranee will be trained for special circumstances."

"Why did you pick her?" She was upset about this. They needed five. "Why didn't you just train Will to protect herself?"

"Taranee is the strongest. Besides, I understand fire."

And that was all. There's a feeling one gets when everything to be said has been said and it's all over. Well, almost everything. "How can you do it Halinor?" Yan Lin found the audacity to ask.

"Do what?"

"Work with _them_, knowing what they did to us." It was really that simple in her mind. Here it was, sixty years of hurt and blame and betrayal, unravelling in a single question.

"Nerissa did what she did," Halinor was always much too cold for someone meant to hold fire. "And you're already banished for saying things like that, so perhaps you should stop."

And then she was gone.

Yan Lin stayed on the porch, considering her options. She could snatch the girl – she did need her – convince her to play both sides – the Oracle couldn't force her to not help Meridian. Despite what he might think.

Yan Lin didn't though. She never did anything but leave the nice part of town after thinking for a long time about what Halinor had said about Nerissa.

She hated to admit it. But if Nerissa was still around, then Taranee needed to stay just where she was.

No one wanted that bitch back.

* * *

**Author:** Well sorry for the delay but it is nice and long with a bunch of revelations. Taranee's purpose in my story isn't really to be one of the original guardians, she's being trained for something greater and will only make cameos for a bit. I actually decided to do this because I was just tired of writing entrances for the guardians. Also, the whole Nerissa/Oracle arc is more my focus – I have this whole conspiracy thing worked out, I love it.

Besides they all have sooo many personalities I wanted to establish some of the girls' other traits before I brought in hers.

If you recall long ago in chapter 2 or 3, there was a man called Baldorn that I think a few of you picked up was a little off. Yes, he's a spy. Muhahaha and in the next chapter F is for Friend, the guardians will be attacked. Yay battle time.

I do love this story. Sometimes I get so excited thinking about what I wanna write for it. So just bear with me, it's not dead, just stagnant sometimes.

Reviews are always appreciated.


	14. F is for Friend

La Dolce Vita

By Seniya

F is for Friend

_Never have a friend who casts you in the shade._

**Baltasar Gracian**

* * *

No one likes to be stood up.

Not the fifteen year old girl in her brand new ballet flats who spent that extra half hour past the start of the movie, staring up and down the sidewalk outside the theatre, looking for her date.

Not the sales executive, in his heavy, starched suit who cancelled three business meetings to meet his wife for the afternoon – who never turned up because Pilates ran late.

Not even Elyon Brown, who called her friend Cornelia on and off for a full half hour (they were supposed to start planning for Cornelia's upcoming Halloween party) because she was two hours late for their meeting.

Cornelia was never late – especially not for something that she had invested her reputation into.

Elyon was quickly concerned and then frightened – had she been kidnapped like those other girls?

They didn't have a home phone in the house – her mother said they couldn't afford it (rather, she spent too much money on Whiskey and they couldn't afford much else) but Cornelia had given her a mobile phone for her last birthday.

She used the majority of her savings (collected from babysitting), to pay her small bill, as a result, her mother did not know she owned the device.

Elyon intended to keep it that way. Her mother would steal it if she knew. She'd steal it and sell it just like she had done with many of her nicer gifts.

Eve was locked in the sole bedroom in the house (fast asleep, no doubt), because of that Elyon sat on her makeshift bed – the raggedy sofa – under the covers and called her best friend.

The sugary sweet voice of Cornelia's voice mail greeted her again, before Elyon decided to hang up. Sighing, she dialled the home number for the first time.

Elizabeth, sounding hassled, answered after the third ring, "Hello, Hale residence."

Oddly, the first thought to cross Elyon's mind was how nice it must be to have a residence – or a phone where people answered. "H-hello Aunty Liz ... i-it's Elyon. I-Is Cornelia home?"

"Oh hello, Elyon darling!" The voice sounded so much happier. "No, no, Cornelia left early this morning. What did she say ... something about rehearsals for some school project or another. I swear, that girl has so much on her plate!"

Project? Elyon felt her stomach drop.

"Aren't you going with her, dearest?"

"N-No ...I'm not." There was a silence on the other end of the line; the kind where the other half of a conversation is biding time to decide on the perfect thing to say. The silence grew, as did the worry – until finally ...

"I'll tell her to call you when she gets home, honey. You take care now ... and um ... say hello to your mother for me."

Click.

Elyon was quite frankly, miserable. She didn't have any other friends. There was no one to call for support, nothing to do but to sit on the raggedy sofa, under the covers and stare at the lifeless screen of her Blackberry.

The loneliness swallowed her whole.

* * *

The endless maze of underground rooms was still as frightening to Will as the first time she'd been inside the Rebel Headquarters. She'd hoped it wouldn't be – (since she was far less panicked on her second visit) but it wasn't the case.

The place wasn't homey, despite the fact that hundreds probably lived there – and for Will, who'd been shuffled around from apartment to motel room (even to the backseat of an SUV once for 3 weeks) for the majority of her life, that was a terrible description.

The other girls were equally distressed. Perhaps the words "rebel hideout" had called to mind a tall imposing structure, brightly lit, with cosy passages and fire lit rooms - nothing like these caves and tunnels, with mud for floors and walls and torches for chandeliers.

They had to follow Caleb in a single file (the corridors weren't wide enough for even two people to pass at once), huddled together more because of the terror reigning over the situation, than for lack of body heat.

The place was giving stiff competition to a Texan summer, Will thought to herself as she readjusted her guitar case on her shoulder. It smelled like mud, and was eerily quiet (save for their feet and Caleb's occasional baritone).

Behind her, HayLin seemed caught between fear and amazement and somewhere up ahead, Caleb (oblivious to it all) gave a long winded tour.

Faces peered out of the walls as they passed. Curious, wide eyes and low, discreet whispers that Will assumed must belong to the bug eyed cat people she'd met on her last trip. There must be doors along the passageway, but it was too dark to be certain.

Finally, they came to the end of their journey when Caleb turned around to face them in a massive circular cavern. It was crammed with benches and people, and torches that hung low over countless bowls of steaming – something.

This place smelled distinctly of feet. Will cringed when she realised that it was the dining room.

There was a definite hush as Caleb signalled for attention from the hundreds of faces bowed low over their suppers.

"As promised!" Will didn't look at Caleb as he spoke; instead she watched the lighted faces of those who watched her. These were the same ones who had called her a witch her last time here. "The guardians of the veil!"

He must have indicated to them, because HayLin waved.

Silence.

Mumblings.

Irma's sarcastic, "lovely crowd. I'm touched."

And then they were being shuffled along past the benches and seated at the head table, next to Caleb and some other men. Will could not appreciate the stares.

Two, short thick women placed bowls of the steaming broth in front of the girls. No one touched it.

Caleb carried on as though five hundred pairs of eyes weren't glaring at them from the darkness, "Will, you need to eat all of Simira's stew – it will put some meat on your bones."

"What about Cornelia's bones Caleb?" Irma chuckled as Will scowled and the blonde on the other side of her seemed ready to implode with rage.

"I like it!" HayLin had grabbed a loaf of dark brown bread and started to devour her dinner as though it were manna from the heavens. "Kinda tastes like my grandma's wanton soup."

"You mean like gasoline?" Irma watched with ill concealed disgust. "I might come here for lunch around prom."

"Why can't you behave!" Cornelia hissed down the line, "Can't you see that we're guests. You don't have any sort of behaviour!"

"Oh really," Irma tilted her head, "because I see your cup still doth runneth over cornflake. You have touched your gruel."

"I-I ... had a big breakfast."

"Oh what, two laxatives instead of one, watch out." Irma giggled.

It wasn't long before insults were being traded like coins at a flea market.

The eyes that had been watching (Will noted) seemed satisfied with that display. Yes, the humans were just as unruly as they had hoped. They returned to their food.

The insults would have continued, if another figure hadn't joined their table. A big, red haired man Will thought looked familiar, took a spot on the other side of Caleb, sparing the group of bickering girls only a second's glance.

"Baldorn," Caleb, greeted him. "Is something amiss?"

Lowered glances and hushed voices followed. Within minutes the two men had excused themselves.

"Something's going on." Will said.

"What do you mean?" HayLin asked with her cheeks stuffed with bread.

"Caleb and that guy just ... disappeared." By then they were back again, whispering to others in the midst. There was a sudden rush of energy, tangible, before Will ever heard the shout, "Phobos' men are advancing! Get up! Get out!"

There was panic then, but no confusion. Men, women and children, stood with practised eased and moved through the cavern in orderly lines.

The place was empty in an instant.

Then, Caleb was behind them, pulling them from their seats. "Transform, hurry. Baldorn says that there aren't many ... and Cedric isn't with them."

"Cedric is the huge snake guy whose ass we kicked?" Irma asked. She was more than a little cocky. Last time she had beat those solders seconds after knowing about her powers, almost with her eyes closed.

"Where are you sending everyone?" Will asked.

"They're evacuating. Cedric cannot know about our location ..." Caleb looked frantic, the worry shone through his eyes but not his face. "If they have found us ... we will have to be rid of them. Do you understand?"

He looked right at her and Will's stomach dropped. "Caleb ... I ..."

"Why isn't Cedric with them?" Cornelia asked. "He's the captain right? He's in charge?"

"Perhaps he's busy," Baldorn spoke suddenly, but Cornelia wasn't having it. "That doesn't make sense ..."

"Cornflake just get guardian," Irma was already in her water guardian form. "I don't have time to be watching your back and defeating hundreds of soldiers."

"Follow Baldorn. I'll get the other men together."

Two flashes of light indicated that Hay Lin and Cornelia had also transformed.

"C'mon, Will ... let's go."

Inside of its sturdy leather case, the Blade of Kandrakar grew heavier still.

Will swallowed, the heat grew thicker. "All right. I'm ready."

* * *

"It isss a beautiful night." Cedric stood on the hill before the rebels' hovel with his entire army standing behind him. The moons were mere slits in the endless black sky, they'd turned their backs on Meridian tonight.

It would be a fitting goodbye before he finally left for earth to destroy the filthy beasts who had been a thorn in his side for as long as he could remember.

He would carry this memory to Earth with him, and the sound of the women screaming as he ate their children would comfort him while he was in human form.

"Where is Baldorn?" A man yelled.

"Patience! One waits for his prey ..." Like a fieldmouse crawling from the floodwaters.

Those guardians would be delicious.

* * *

"Where are they?" There was nothing in the still, soft night. Not a hand in front of a face or the light of the moons on the swampy ground. Will struggled to see, struggled to hear, but only darkness answered her.

"I can't see anything!" HayLin whined, the wind was picking up around them ... meaning that she was also becoming agitated.

"You guys are keeping way too much noise." Cornelia snapped, already in a bad mood for being ignored by Caleb all evening. "Hay Lin fly up there and tell me what you see."

"She can't fly up there, they'll see her!" Will replied.

"As opposed to staying down here and scratching our asses. Yes, this plan is much ... wait ... I can feel something." Cornelia paused, "I...I thought you said that there aren't that many of them."

"What do you mean?" Irma asked as the wind grew stronger.

"They're like ... millions ... well I dunno but it's a lot. A whole lot! To our left!" She pointed for whatever good it did. "They're moving! They're coming right at us!"

"He lied?"

"Why would he ..."

"It's a trap!"

* * *

Baldorn lunged towards Will in the same instant that the first battle cry rang out in the Meridian night. She felt, before she saw those arms, as large as tree branches on her wrists trying to pry the blade from her fingers.

It wouldn't go, and in the first instant of panic a jolt of energy jumped across the two bodies, and Baldorn finally pulled away.

"They're moving fast!" Cornelia yelled.

"Will! Where's the bastard, I'll get him in the nards!" Irma frantically pulled the muddy ground beneath her feet, urging it rise and fall with each of her breaths.

"I ... I've got it under control." It wasn't necessarily true. She couldn't see, couldn't concentrate and she knew that the overwhelming rush of energy rattling beneath her skin was beyond her control. Baldorn was coming back for seconds. "Just get the army! Make sure they don't get into rebel's ..."

He was on her again, this time his fingers on her throat, twisting the soft skin there. It wasn't hard to push another jolt through his skin. This time he staggered and screamed at the contact ... and Will saw the rush of madness that lit up his face as the first bolts of lightning danced across the dark night sky.

* * *

"Are you kidding me?" Irma hollered over the rush of wind as HayLin took flight, 'there's too much mud in my water!"

"Well, there's too much water in my mud!" Cornelia replied. "Seriously, they're almost here!"

"Which way should I go Cornelia?" HayLin asked from her spot above. "I'm flying blind up here!"

"Um ..." Cornelia closed her eyes and concentrated on the heavy thud of footsteps she could sense pounding the saturated earth, "Go to your right ... do like a tornado or something huge. They're seriously a trillion of them."

HayLin did as she was told, within seconds razor sharp winds licked at their limbs, nearly dislodging the four persons still on the ground.

Baldon took the advantage of his three hundred pound weight difference to tackle Will to the ground, the lightning crew chaotic as she screamed and kicked. The energy flowing out of her body wasn't as strong as before and she was rapidly becoming tired.

"If you are waiting on your precious rebel leader, that hope is lost."

"W-what did you do ..."

"They're all trapped below. And when I set the place aflame ..."

"No!" The last jolt was too strong, it made Baldorn release his grip but left her gasping for breath.

Will crumbled to the floor, trying to control the urge to retch._ "Energy is all around you." _

She could hear the voice, so familiar. Too familiar.

"Nerissa?"

"_Do not draw from your own strength, you will only weaken. Pull from the heavens, from the winds, from the waters and the earth – from others. But never from yourself."_

* * *

Irma didn't need Cornelia to tell her just how many solders were advancing any longer. The thundering sound of advancing footsteps was now too overwhelming to ignore. Not to mention the stench of men and animals and the sound of grunted threats.

"I'd hate to be the bearer of bad news Cornflake but seriously, I think we have to work together."

"Yeah, yeah ... I get that feeling too." Cornelia tensed her muscles and called upon the stubborn earth at her feet to become pliable. "All right, on three."

Irma snapped, "I didn't say you were in charge!"

"Can you see?" The blonde snapped back.

"Point taken." Irma took a breath, found the water, cool and easy, currently resting in the soil. She shook it awake.

"Move to the left on three."

"My left or your left!"

"It's the same frickin' left Irma!"

"Right!"

The first mighty wave of mud rose at least twenty feet into the air, Hay Lin had to swerve to dodge it, and then it came crashing down with brutal accuracy atop dozens of men, who truly never saw it coming.

"Again!"

Yet another wave, this time larger and wider but the same terrifying effect. The mud had come alive to gobble the army whole, and they never truly had a chance.

The wind had finally ceased its play to listen to HayLin, it obeyed (for now, it was noticeably fickle) and twisted and tossed in an erratic dance, through the night, over the earth and onto the ground.

The beauty was lost on those in its path; the tornado sped through the ranks with ease, plucking men like paper dolls off of their feet and sending them into the endless sky.

The moons smiled a crooked smile, but stayed silent.

* * *

They were winning. Will didn't understand how as she stayed crumpled on her back in the swampy ground, with her sword pulsing erratically in her clenched fist, watching the blurry stars attempt to right themselves in her watery eyes.

She could hear the cries of the battle behind her. The occasional shouts from Irma and Cornelia and cheers from HayLin. Those, and the screams of men as they fell to their defeat.

At her side, Baldorn stirred. He would soon rise, probably before the weakness in her limbs subsided.

Why were her powers like this? Why couldn't she fight like the others? Why was everything so hard?

Lightning criss-crossed along the pitch black sky, answering her. Lightning. Will felt the blade warm in her hand and forced herself to stand.

With trembling hands and shaky legs, she pointed the sword to the night sky and sent a single bolt of energy upwards … it was too much … Will felt herself weaken all over again.

But it replied. The lightning raced across the heavens to converge at a single point. Suddenly, there was nothing but white light for miles around. It swept across the faces of the men and guardians before pelting downwards in a single hard stroke, to the tip of the Blade of Kandrakar.

There was no pain in this power, just energy, pure and simple. The cool, warm sensation made her tremble, but not from weakness. It took Will all of three seconds to decide on her course of action.

"HayLin!" She yelled, "Get Irma and Cornelia off of the ground!"

"What?" It was Irma who asked, because HayLin had already sent a gust of wind in their direction. The two screaming girls were tossed effortlessly into the night.

Before they could fall, Will plunged the blade into the earth. The energy twisted in her grip scattered in every direction, infiltrating the mud and merging with the water before it exploded and touched every creature caught in the swamp.

The cries lasted mere seconds, and then there was only one: Cedric, who spat with as much venom as a half-snake could, "Retreat!"

It must have been magic, because only an instant later, they were all gone (those who could leave in any case). And Will was left alone with the other guardians and Baldorn, who had not risen after all.

Irma and Cornelia landed with a collective thud, probably one atop of the other and the bickering resumed.

"Will!" HayLin made a very uncomfortable landing, and grabbed Will in a tight hug. "That was amazing! I didn't know you could do that!"

"Neither did I …"

"Okay, first of all, the next time you wanna drop me on my ass, a little warning will be nice." Irma joined the group, looking muddy, smelling muddy but grinning from ear to ear.

"But it's such a big ass. I doubt you felt it." Cornelia put in, and Irma, who was too elated from the victory to issue a comeback simply chuckled, "damn right it's big."

"I'm so proud of us!" HayLin squealed, "I can't wait to tell Nana!"

"What about Caleb?" Cornelia noted, "I thought he was coming with the other rebels."

"Baldaorn trapped them. They're still inside." Will replied, indicating the less than impressive structure behind her. "We gotta get them out."

"I'll do it!" Cornelia volunteered.

"Of course you will." Irma chimed in.

"Shut it Lair!"

The peace had been nice while it lasted.

* * *

He had trapped them, Caleb explained once he and the others were freed. The pseudo-security system (three boulders to block the entrance) had been altered to trap everyone inside. Since the remainder of the headquarters was underground, they'd essentially been captured.

The freed rebels seemed a lot more accepting once they caught sight of the sprinkling of unconscious warriors and listened with rapt attention to HayLin's animated account of the battle.

"We'll have to move." Caleb mumbled, to the three other girls once the others had finally stopped thumping them on their backs and begging for blessings for their children.

"Cedric got away." Will replied. "We … I … couldn't stop …" She hadn't wanted to. That was the truth; she figured Caleb knew that was inevitably what her stumbling equated to.

"Where you guys gonna go?" Irma asked.

"Further East. We'll have to leave now, before Cedric can create another army. We've … been here since the rebellion began."

Will understood. That little hovel was their home, as sad as its muddy walls were.

"Well, let us know if we can help." Cornelia smiled, while Irma snorted.

"I appreciate that Cornelia." And the blonde almost melted. "I'll call one of our nurses to look after your ailments." He moved to examine Will's neck (where dozens of red marks stayed vivid against her porcelain skin) but she smacked his hand away.

He grabbed her wrist, "don't do that when I am trying to help you."

She rolled her eyes and stomped off to HayLin's side. Caleb watched her go before cursing to himself. He then walked off in the other direction to consult with a group of men who were discussing Baldorn's fate.

Irma and Cornelia stood in silence for a bit before Irma finally said, "So … is he getting the nurse? Because my ass could really use some Icy-hot."

* * *

**Author:** Can I tell you I wrote this at work. Now to get the news done. Hahaha. Well, the first real battle guys, I was thinking if I should let them lose but, I decided the group needed a little morale booster.

Next is G is for Ghost, a Halloween episode. You'll probably get it for Halloween, judging by how slow these updates are sometimes.

Also, I do ship Will and Caleb like a loser so that is probably where this is heading. Nothing big and mushy though and you probably won't get any action until closer to the end. If you are craving for a WillxCaleb fix I have countless romances of them go hit up my profile.

Thanks for the support! Reviews are always appreciated!


	15. G is for Ghost Part 1

La Dolce Vita

By Seniya

G is for Ghost

**Like a moth to a flame we become helpless to the beautiful ghosts that true love sheds"**

Ryan O'neal

* * *

"So, because of the cancellation of Homecoming." Cornelia, still dressed in her pajamas was sprawled across her favorite white duvet, and propped regally upon her dozens of pillows. "Tomorrow's Halloween party will have to be extremely memorable. It is the only decent activity for the fall."

Elyon was seated across from her best friend at an equally white desk, with her hands folded across a large clipboard filled with names. Elyon, with her white blonde hair and gray sweater dress was sadly the brightest speck of colour in the fashionably bland bedroom.

Cornelia's mother had spent a ridiculous sum of money last summer redecorating the entire house during the onset of her mid-life crisis. It was a costly endeavor (one that the family couldn't necessarily afford) but it looked good, and to Elizabeth Hale, that was all that mattered.

"I was thinking of a theme, like Old Hollywood … but then Halloween is already a theme. Although I swear to God, if anyone comes dressed as Nikki Minaj, I'll have an aneurism."

Elyon had been silent for most of the day (not that Cornelia really noticed). She was still upset about the fact that her best friend had deserted her last week and still hadn't offered an explanation about it. Of course, she hadn't said anything – the words were still jumbled on her tongue, and she couldn't spit them out.

"All right, on to the guest list." Cornelia, slipped out of bed to pluck the clipboard from Elyon's hands, "Uriah Butler, no, Julian Coombs, definitely not, Harry Goode … Jesus lord. This is definitely gonna be a small party. What happened to all those hot seniors from last year?"

"C-College."

"Oh right. Who wouldn't leave Heatherfield the moment they got a chance?" She clicked her tongue, "Irma Lair … seriously no, Wilhelmina … definitely not. I seriously have five adequate people on my party list!"

"Last y-year you i-invited e-everybody."

"Well, that was just to prove to that cow Irma that I could." And to show everyone who wanted to see exactly what the Hale name could afford. "But this year, I'm feeling more intimate." She sighed, squealed and then like any sixteen year old girl would, she grabbed her friend's wrists and sat cross legged on the white carpet. "There's a guy!"

"Y-You met a guy?" The surge of jealousy burning her throat was both instantaneous and strong.

Cornelia reached for her Blackberry and quickly identified the object of her attention in a blurry photograph. "Isn't he perfect?"

To be honest, Elyon couldn't really make out anything other than a puddle of green and brown, and she told Cornelia as much. "Well, I couldn't let him see me taking it. I didn't want to look like some stalker freak."

"W-Where did you m-meet him."

"Um," Cornelia's gaze returned to the face of her phone, she ran her fingers along the buttons for a long while before finally letting the device rest on the floor, "I just … saw him around. Anyways, I'm gonna invite him to the party, so I need to impress. And I don't need any weirdos around."

"W-What's h-he like?"

"He's very manly and mature and dark and brooding. And hot!"

"D-Does he k-know you like him?"

"Well, no," Cornelia looked at her friend as though she were insane. "He's supposed to chase me! He's … not from around here … and I don't think he's used to girls like me."

Elyon nodded slowly.

"Plus, there's this other girl … I mean she's ughh …" Cornelia was frowning again, "but …"

"S-She likes him too?"

"I … don't think … I really don't get their relationship. But obviously, I'm the better choice and I just need to make him see, so he'll be inspired to chase me." Cornelia nodded her blonde head with an air of finality.

Elyon had never had a boyfriend and knew precious little about chasing or being chased in any case. She didn't really like the idea of Cornelia having one either. Suddenly, she could see their cozy little duo becoming overcrowded and herself being abandoned. She twisted her fingers together.

"W-Where were y-you l-last w-week?"

Cornelia, who had been desperately pouring over the list, in search of at least one more acceptable person to invite to her party, seemed confused. "What?"

"F-For o-our last m-meeting. Y-You didn't show …" She stared fixedly at her fingers until they blurred together.

"Oh, my God! Elyon!" Cornelia smacked her forehead with her open palm, "I am so, so sorry! I-I was doing this thing for my Mom."

Elyon was stunned by the answer, and suddenly, she remembered calling Mrs Hale that fateful morning and being told something completely different. She didn't make this knowledge public however. "Its o-okay."

* * *

Will, munching on _Froot Loops_ on this lovely Saturday and watching the early morning cartoons, was more grateful for the day off than the balmy weather.

It was slowly becoming colder in North Carolina, the forecasters had already predicted a frigid winter – which was normal, it seemed – a fact that caused the locals to practically rejoice at the fact it was still 85 degrees so near to the end of October.

Her mother had (gratefully) been struck by a spurt of inspiration over the last few weeks and had secluded herself to the study to finish her "Gucci Trilogy". Will understood that the books were based loosely around her mother's old life. A former model, a handsome boyfriend, a frivolous concern easily rectified by the 300th page.

Still, her mother's seclusion gave her some much needed alone time. Time to sit and contemplate the sudden intricacies of her sixteen year old life.

"Wilhelmina! Up so early!" For Susan, eleven o'clock was downright unthinkable on a Saturday. However, with the publisher's pushing her for a manuscript – well, sleep had suddenly become secondary. She ran a manicured hand along the small of her back before trotting through the living room into the kitchen.

"What are you up to today? Hanging with friends? A boy perhaps?"

"If that was your not so subtle way of asking if I have a boyfriend, then relax. The schoolyard is still your hunting ground."

Susan brittled as she reached for the milk. She suppressed the urge for vodka. "Wilhelmina, I was simply trying to make conversation. You'll have to learn not to be so defensive when people are just trying to make small talk."She reached for the _Folgers_, and decided in that instant that she wanted her morning brew extra dark.

Will didn't reply and Susan expelled a loud sigh. Really, she was tired. "Look, Will … can we call a truce?"

She put the milk on the counter and walked into the living room where her daughter stared at the television screen. She noticed Will didn't take her cereal with milk. Neither did she.

"I mean you're here for another four months. I don't want us to be bickering every five minutes."

"Well, you could have sent me to a foster home." The television went blank and Will's voice hardened, "don't think I don't know it crossed your mind."

"No! It didn't!" Susan moved quickly so that she was standing before Will, who, even seated on the sofa in her frog pajamas was much too terrifying a sight. "I would never leave you with strangers!"

"But you did! Grandma and Pops! You … you had never met them! And you just dumped me off when I was just a baby!"

"You don't think I regret it! Every day of my life Wilhelmina! But I … I wasn't raised with anything! My parents were dirt poor and I couldn't go back to that! I went back to my career because that's how I could take care of you!"

"Oh yeah!" Will climbed to her feet, "so why didn't you come back? After Paris and Milan? When no one wanted your washed up ass? Why did you come here instead of Texas?"

Susan pressed her fingers against her temple and sighed. "Maybe because I wanted to avoid this! All of this pent up teenage angst! I hope you don't think that you're the first teenager to hate her mother! All I was trying to do was help. I sent you half of my paycheck every month, gifts every Christmas …"

"Well, maybe I needed more than that." Will spat. She realized, belatedly, how weak it sounded and wished she could retract the words. But she already saw the wash of sympathy across her mother's beautiful face. She hated that too.

"Will … I'm not saying that … I was perfect. I am saying that I tried." She did sound remorseful, but Will recalled that her mother had a brief acting stint in the early nineties. "I hate seeing you this angry … I remember when you were a little girl, how your face would light up when I stopped by."

"All four times."

"Will …"

"Maybe this would have worked before my grandparents died and my Dad got carted off to prison." She shook her head, "I never was a little girl! You know what I remember? Going to school with a three hundred dollar backpack but having no one show up to my parent teacher meetings! That's what I remember! Being alone! I've always been alone, and I don't need to stop now."

"I had a horrible relationship with my mother. I just … wanted different for us … but I never understood…"

Excuses. "I'll play nice for the next four months. But we're not the _Gilmore Girls_ Mom. Let's save the drama and the fast paced dialogue and just get through this."

_Froot Loops_ forgotten; Will trudged upstairs to her makeshift bedroom intending to spend a few hours staring outside of her window, brooding, when she heard it.

"_As lonely as it is, that loneliness_…"

"Nerissa?" Jesus! Her again! Stupidly, Will covered her ears.

"_It will be more lonely, ere it will be less_."

"Why are you talking to me?" The redhead hissed. "How can you talk to me?"

Nothing.

* * *

Halloween was a very busy time in the Lin household. As could be expected, demon-hunting hit an all time peak near to the end of October, and there were quite a few long nights involved in dealing with the matter.

Yan Lin had closed the restaurant from Monday for "stocktaking", which arguably, wasn't a complete lie since she and her grand-daughter were taking stock of ingredients.

"Two bags of chicken feet?" Hay Lin asked, wrinkling her nose at the fetid aroma.

"Got those already. Go check in the corner and tell me if you see the rosemary bush." Yan Lin adjusted her reading glasses on the bridge of her nose and frowned at her list, "did you say we had enough salt?"

"Yeah, I ordered extra because we ran out last year."

Yan Lin nodded her approval, "last year was a mess. A hundred demons from the Civil War suddenly decide that we're the North." She frowned at the memory; no doubt this year would be worse now that the veil between Meridian and Earth had weakened as well.

The chiming of the doorbell disrupted her thoughts. "I swear that no one in this town can read! Closed!"

"That's Irma and Will … Irma was bored and Will said she had an emergency."

"Jesus Christ! After all the complaining for a holiday and they still show up!" As far as Yan Lin was concerned, there is only one emergency around Halloween and that was the hundreds of vengeful souls given a full three hours to wreak as much havoc as they could.

However, Hay Lin was already out of the basement and opening the front door.

"Ugh!" Irma fought the urge to retch once she entered the room. The cellar room was always disgusting but today it was a hundred times worse. Every sense was assaulted by a riot of foul things, blood, limbs, eyes, mud. "Yan Lin what are you making? Dim sum?"

"Funny, funny." Yan Lin snapped. "Halloween is tomorrow, and if you want to stay, you'll have to work."

"I'm not touching that gunk." The brunette protested.

Patience wore thin. At that moment, perhaps gratefully so, Will entered the room. She looked sheepish, "Yan Lin … I need to talk to you about something … in private."

"Oh Hades!" Yan Lin rolled her eyes, "It's called your period, it comes once every 28 …"

"No!" Will looked annoyed, "it's not that … it's something about the sword." Subconsciously, she adjusted the strap of her guitar case on her back, "in private."

Yan Lin heaved a sigh and ordered her granddaughter and the insolent Irma to continue sorting the ingredients. "It's tomorrow! Hundreds of demons!" She muttered several curses, concerns and admonitions as she climbed the stairs that finally led to her study.

Here was a room Will had never been before. It looked like the rest of the restaurant: red, with a certain utilitarian vibe that overrode the comfort of a home. There were countless books, most yellowed and covered in a thick layer of dust that also coated the only desk and chair in the room.

Yan Lin folded her arms and clicked her tongue in impatience. "Well …"

Will bit her lip, it was probably just best to blurt it out. "I've been hearing Nerissa. She … She can talk to me somehow, except I can't respond."

"What? Hold the phone!" Yan Lin, "dead Nerissa?"

"She's not dead, I've seen her."

Yan Lin looked both upset and confused, "she's dead to this world. It was her punishment. How long has this been going on? Have you gone to her again?"

Will shrugged, "a couple of weeks. And no, I've just heard her."

"Weeks!" Finally "upset" won the war of emotions on the older lady's face. "And you tell me this now!"

"Well … she wasn't doing anything. She still isn't really. She … actually helps me."

"Helps you? Didn't you tell me the last time you saw her she wanted to kill you?" Yan Lin's brow folded into a series of lines. "What do you mean she helps you?"

Will shifted her weight from one leg to the other, "Last time when we were in Meridian, she told me what to do … how to defeat the solders. And it worked."

This didn't make sense. "She's trying to win your trust. That much is obvious. Why it is so important to her, is not so clear to me … Nerissa can't leave her prison. The magic holding her is much too strong. She wants the sword but she … she can't …"

"Are we sure she can't? I was wondering, maybe if she could teleport me to her prison again and ..."

"I suspect that was because of the Blade of Kandrakar. She is still connected to it in a way, and she does have a little magic of her own." Yan Lin sighed and frowned.

"She has to know something we don't! There has to be more behind this! People just don't help people they don't know …"

There was. Yan Lin remembered how _her_ Fire Guardian was being withheld – was it for cases like this? She smelled a rat.

"Are you gonna talk to the Oracle?" Will finally asked.

"Me?" She snorted, "I'm banished from Kandrakar. He doesn't want to see anyone who opposed his shitty ideas and rules. And with Lucia gone …." Yan Lin fell into a thoughtful silence. In the hallway outside, the doorbell chimed again before Hay Lin ran to answer it. "It is the Blade. That is her link to you. Can she still talk to you when you're not near to it?"

"Well … no," It was the truth. This morning, the sword had been in its case under her bed when she'd heard the voice, and all the other times the sword had been in her hands. "I do have to be near to it."

"Then leave it here with me until I can figure something else out."Will looked more than hesitant, but Yan Lin snapped, "I won't steal it! You're the only one who can use it anyways. I'll just put a cloaking spell over it … and it'll be perfectly safe. At least until we can decide how to get her to stop communicating with you."

"Isn't it safer with me? Isn't that what you've always said?"

"Yes, that should be true … but there hasn't been anything like this before. I don't know what else to do."

The logic did make a bit of sense, and she needed to be here to be around the other girls anyway. "All right," she removed the heavy case from her shoulder. "It's just temporary though." She couldn't displace the sense of loss. "What's Nerissa locked up for anyway?"

Yan Lin pressed her lips together, but didn't refuse Will an answer. She took the heavy case away. "Murder. She killed Cassidy, her successor."

* * *

Irma had tried for a full half minute to help the Lins in the demon hunting inventory check – that was of course, before she stumbled across the lizard eyes.

HayLin had gone to answer a ring at the door and left Irma quite alone in the dimly lit room, a fact that she was quickly coming to regret. She shuddered suddenly, feeling cold, and turned to race up the stairs to join her friend … before she saw her.

Hazy, faded, hovering – but familiar.

"Mom?"

* * *

**Author:** Irma's mom is dead as I hope you recall. She lives with her stepmom and dad.

I don't like to make these chapters too long. It's a lot harder to read 6000 words than you think. So I'm splitting this up again. Stay tuned for Ghost part 2. Again, not a lot of action but the character development in this story is so important because it explains a lot of the things I have planned down the road.

There's the obvious Elyon situation, that's coming soon, but some other things with the Nerissa situation as well. Phobos and Nerissa as well, I have made victims of circumstance. Neither is truly evil, I doubt anyone really is, but the situations they've been in have made them twisted.

Thanks again for the continued support. Some of you have been with me for years. Thanks a million!


	16. G is for Ghost Part 2

La Dolce Vita

By Seniya

G is for Ghost

Part Two

I would just say that - the ghosts you chase you never catch.  
**John Malkovich**

The second knock when answered, had revealed an immaculate looking Cornelia, today in a pink argyle sweater and light grey slacks. She smiled with her lips, although her eyes were distracted. She hadn't wasted even a second's glance at Hay Lin, instead she peered curiously past the girl's back, into the solid darkness of the restaurant.

"Is Caleb here?" She asked after that. After HayLin shook her head to signal the negative, she pouted, and tapped her foot. "Well, can you …"

"I just saw my Mom!" Irma, face white as the clouds on a simple summer's day, rushed through the dining area, obviously looking for someone – anyone to comfort her. "She … She was in your basement!"

Hay Lin stuttered, "But … I thought … your Mom … was … you know …" There was no politically correct way around it. "Dead."

"She is … she's down … was it a ghost?" Irma was shaking like a leaf from curly ponytail to sneakered bottom. Her bright eyes seemed eerie in her drawn face. She was such a visible wreck that even Cornelia couldn't comment.

Yan Lin could. "It's Halloween." She hustled into the entrance wearing a heavy sweatshirt over her dirty apron and track pants. Will trailed miserably in her wake. "Everyone from Joan of Arc to TuPac is out here. HayLin, hold down the fort … I've got some business to attend to, I won't be long."

"Is Will going with you?" Hay Lin watched the redhead with large, curious eyes.

"Apparently." Will muttered, even more unimpressed than usual. YanLin flinched, she should have warned Will not to get her grandchild started. "Why?" Came the chipper voice and she sighed to herself. It was too late.

"Hello! I just saw my dead mother in your cellar! Can we focus?" Irma huffed.

"It's Halloween, Irma. It happens." Yan Lin grabbed her purse while Will and started for the door.

"Why are you taking Will with you Nana?"

"Wait!" Cornelia blocked the entrance, "um, Will, I have a favour to ask."

The blank stare and bitter disposition on the redhead's face were as much encouragement as she could expect. "I'm um," Cornelia felt her face warm and regretted the fact that she hadn't had the foresight to do this over the phone. "So I'm having this par – err – small get together at my house, and I was hoping that you could …"

"Wait," Irma interjected, more than a little put out at having been so easily dismissed, "you're inviting Will to your party?"

"No." Cornelia smiled through the answer, "I was hoping … you know … that she'd use the sword to open a portal so that I could invite Caleb to my party."

There were several moments of silence before Yan Lin finally replied. "Do you think the Blade of Kandrakar is a friggin' bus pass?"

"I don't even know where Caleb is. Even if I opened a portal, I wouldn't know where to put it." Will stated before Irma smirked, "you could just let Cornflake in Will. She's half Doberman. If he's there, she'd find him."

"Caleb usually just pops up when you don't want him anyways. So just hope he was eaten by carnivorous plants and he'll …" As if on cue, there was a flash of bright light, and Caleb stepped out of the energy fold. "Speak of the devil …" The redhead sighed.

"Hi …" Cornelia breathed, suddenly a rush of nervous energy, "Caleb, I was just looking for you."

"Hello," he said curtly, looking huge, muddy and out of place on the Silver Dragon's dining room. In the days the girls hadn't seen him, he'd lost some weight, grown a shaggy beard, and as Will told him as he drew closer to her – forgotten to shower. He ignored her, and instead removed a large sack from his back and let it drop on the floor. "We haven't finished relocating, but some of the children made these gifts for you. I decided I should bring them."

"Oh, these are so cute!" HayLin wasted no time in reaching into the bags to remove various pretty stones, a few drawings and even a patchwork dolls with wings. "I love them all!"

"Anyways," YanLin frowning at the muddy floor, snapped, "someone will mop, I trust. We're leaving! Hay Lin don't follow!" Cornelia practically jumped to the side to let Will and the old woman pass.

"Nana, where are you guys going?" Hay Lin bounded out the door anyways.

"Caleb, now that you're here," Cornelia straightened her back, brushed her hair from off her shoulders and smiled, "do you wanna come to my Halloween party tomorrow night?"

He stared at her, his gorgeous green eyes pinning her to the spot. "What is … Halloween?"

"Oh …" Cornelia's smile never faltered, "it's well this holiday … where people try to scare each other for fun."

"Is this some Earth custom I won't understand?" In the months he's been visiting Earth, he'd learned that there were a great many of those. "No, silly, you can understand. It's mostly for children, but we _adults_ can enjoy it too. It'll be fun!" She prayed to God that sounded convincing. Out of the corner, she heard Irma snort. That pig.

"You know Corny," Irma cooed, stepping close to Caleb and resting a hand on his muddy shoulder. "Halloween really is for kids … hey, I know!" She grinned, "Why don't you invite the Meridian children to your party?"

"W-What?"

"That is a fantastic plan Irma!" Caleb actually smiled, "the children are very fond of you girls. If I were to tell them they could come to Earth to spend time with you, they'd be overjoyed."

"Really," Irma pressed a hand to her heart, "overjoyed?"

"The last few weeks have been very hard for them. I would be very appreciative if you did this for the children." Those eyes could melt her very soul.

"Yes, Corny. For the children."

"Well …" she thought fearfully of her mother's newest porcelain vases – "for the children."

* * *

Will hadn't known what to expect when Yan Lin announced that they needed to meet someone. From experience, she expected the worst. Yan Lin's acquaintances ranged from senile to psychotic, with a heaping dose of shifty right in the middle.

Instead, she was a little put off when the journey led them just two streets north, past the old library and into the nicer part of Heatherfield. "Who lives here?" Will mumbled once they stood on the sidewalk leading to a family of large Victorian styled homes.

The old woman sighed heavily in response. The cool evening breeze whipped across her wrinkled face, finding nothing to stop and watch. "It's not really who lives here. It is who is watching this place."

"By all means Yan Lin," Will rolled her light brown eyes, "be a little more vague. I was just starting to understand you."

Yan Lin merely snorted in reply. The pair each took a heavy step forward, "I've never really told you girls about Kandrakar."

"Those are the people who made my sword right?" Will remembered Hay Lin's erratic and colourful illustration of the history of the guardians. It didn't take a genius to decide that it had probably been heavily paraphrased. "Live in the heavens, all seeing, all knowing …"

"The Oracle, who is in charge of the Council of Kandrakar is not a kind man."

"You've met him?" Will asked, feeling more than a little put off by Yan Lin's strange, bleak tone. "I thought he was more like a … metaphor." She waved her hand feebly as she tried to explain.

"No. I've met him. Back when Nerissa … killed … Cassidy we all had to attend a hearing." The older woman shook her head slowly as the rush of memories swam before her aged eyes. "It lasted mere minutes."

Will remembered something – a long, lost conversation. "Lucia told me you were banished from Kandrakar."

"I am." She actually smiled, "That very day. I was banished for what I told him. Back then I blamed him for what Nerissa had done. I still do sometimes. He could have stopped her."

Will didn't like to talk about Nerissa. Hearing the name brought a rush of feelings; curiosity, foreboding, fear – sympathy. She had wondered a few times before if she would end up like her, power hungry and mad. A shell of a woman; locked in a hall of mirrors.

"I told him that much. He didn't like it. I was removed as Guardian of the Air and banished from Kandrakar."

"Wow."

"I also neglected to mention that there is a Fire Guardian." She stopped before a house right in the middle of the street. The lawns were perfect, and there were two cars in the garage. The name "Cook" was printed in "Times New Roman" across an immaculate metal mailbox. "However, this Oracle has decided that she will not be helping us with Meridian."

"Did he say why?"

Old, folded brown eyes found Will's bright ones. "No. However, I believe it has everything to do with you."

* * *

"Irma … ghosts can't hurt you." Hay Lin had eventually trotted back inside of the house, and almost instantly, Irma had clung to the smaller girl's shoulders. "Only evil spirits can … and I seriously doubt your mother is one of those."

That didn't stop Irma's fingernails from pushing deeper into her shoulders. Together, they descended the steps to the basement, where the heavy smell of ingredients waited to greet them. "I just …" Irma couldn't say that she was really afraid – merely anxious. She wanted to see her mother again.

Her heart sank a full inch when she discovered that there was nothing in the room but the piles of rosemary, salt, garlic and chicken feet.

"See," Hay Lin chimed, trying to be comforting, "Nothing to worry about."

"I …I," Irma could barely speak for the strength of the tears suddenly clogging her throat. "I want to help you guys … tomorrow night."

"Really?" Hay Lin did notice the sheen of bright tears across her friend's eyes, but didn't question it because of the bright smile Irma had plastered on her face. "S-Sure, Irma … whatever you want."

* * *

"Taranee," Yan Lin said after the fourth knock, when the door to the large white house finally opened.

"Ugh …" Her dark brown eyes were less than impressed being the sheen of her glasses. "you again?" She didn't spare a reaction for Will.

Yan Lin genuinely seemed to have that universal affect on people.

"All of that aside." Yan Lin cleared her throat, "Will has been hearing Nerissa. Call your friends, have a little pretentious pow-wow. Whatever you do, fix it, soon."

And that was it. The older woman turned sharply on her heel and started to trot along the walkway. Will met Taranee's eyes for what could have only been a second, before following suit.

"You needed to bring me to watch you do that?" She hissed once she was beside her counterpart.

"I wanted them to see you. All of them."

Will didn't bother to ask for more of an explanation than that.

* * *

Author: Ta-da! Well despite the month long delay, I bring to you half of what I had planned to write. I am slightly ashamed. I have been reading NotQuiteNorm's series, which did give me a little push to write this. If you haven't read, please do. She writes Will and Caleb's interactions extremely well.

Also, I have finally settled down and planned what will happen when Nerissa does appear later on, which is great for me. Anyways, I usually write my Will and Caleb Christmas drabble this week, so look out for that. Reviews are always welcome!


	17. G is for Ghost Part 3

**La Dolce Vita**

**By Seniya**

**G is for Ghost**

**Part Three**

_Ghosts must be all over the country, as thick as the sands of the sea._

_Henrik Ibsen_

* * *

Despite Yan Lin's consistent complaints about the fact that the girls refused to help her and Hay Lin exorcise demons or whatever it was that they did, she was less than appreciative that Irma had volunteered for Halloween.

"So, this is absolutely not because you saw your mother?" Yan Lin, who was covered in at least fifty amulets, including six crucifixes, three rosaries and a long chain made entirely of feathers and beads.

"Wh-what the heck are all of those? Is this an end-of life crisis?" Irma was too distracted by her attire to answer. Not to mention the fact that she seemed to have bathed in incense. At the very least, the Lins seemed to have sanitized the basement, it now smelled significantly less rank, although it was still a long way to go before it could compare to potpourri. The stacks of ingredients had been neatly heaped into several pouches and vials and were scattered across the large wooden table in the centre.

Yan Lin shook her head, causing the crystals and heavy silver medallions to rattle. "Protection, from the millions of evil spirits entering earth tonight."

"But, Hay Lin said ghosts can't hurt me." To which the old woman nodded, then she added, "Ghosts can't. However, a ghost is a rare occurrence. Those things you see are demons and memories."

"Meaning … what exactly."

"Meaning that whatever you saw was not your mother. It was either the memory of her or it was a demon, pretending to be her. So it makes no sense going to look for her."

Irma blinked. "Will told me the first time she transformed she saw ghosts."

But Yan Lin shook her head, "Not ghosts exactly. Spirits. Spirits surround us, because the land of the dead is in a dimension beside Earth. In your guardian form you can see into that dimension once you are here … but those spirits will never trouble you because they can't."

"So you … the woman who hunts boogiemen and zombies is telling me that there is no such thing as ghosts."

"There are. Those are just rare, and they're not the ones you are looking for." Yan Lin met her eyes, "It was not what you saw."

The conversation was interrupted by two pairs of feet, thundering down the basement stairs. Hay Lin, dressed much like her kin, draped in heavy necklaces with extravagant pendants was smiling from ear to ear. Only seconds later, the source of her elation became clear.

"Eric?" Irma frowned, "he helps you, but you're complaining about me? Eric spent the whole of last year cultivating sea-monkeys!"

"It was a science project," the young man hissed, "and almost successful!" Hay Lin nodded eagerly beside him.

"I never said you couldn't help." Yan Li had moved over her ingredients, and started meticulously sorting them into four piles. "I just don't want you getting your hopes up." Her faded brown eyes flicked to Eric and still, "Dammit Eric! You are not carrying the holy water in a Super Soaker!"

"Why not!" Eric puffed out his chest, indignant. For the first time, Irma noticed that he was dressed in a Batman costume. The Adam West. Not the Christian Bale. "You should have seen this baby go last year!"

"Because you will waste it! I only got three gallons from Jerusalem this year!"

"Aw, Nana, let him have it."

"Hay Lin, you need to give Irma some medallions. Did you tell her how to recognize a boogie-man? Or what about how to tell the difference between a poltergeist and a ghoul?"

"Well … no … but …"

Irma watched the bickering group with a sinking heart. No one could dispute what she'd seen. In the pocket of her velour sweat shirt she closed her fingers around a heavy gold locket with a piece of her mother's hair inside. She knew what she had to do.

* * *

It was especially chilly this Halloween evening.

There'd be an early snow this year, Will remembered hearing something of the sort over the evening news her mother insisted on watching because she thought the anchorman was sexy.

Will had dressed for it. Mostly by digging up a heavy oversized track jacket that had once belonged to her dad when he'd been a Security Guard – the irony of which must have struck Thomas Vandom as he presently sat in prison – some fluffy boots that she'd borrowed from her mother, and a thick knitted cap, shaped like a frog, that her Grandmother had made for her.

Cornelia frowned in distaste at the ensemble when she opened the door to her much too clean and perfect house. She had asked Will to come around the back (what if the neighbours saw) but as usual, the redhead hadn't listened.

Really, the boots, jacket and hat would have each been tacky enough on their own, but combined – Cornelia shuddered. Quickly, she pulled Will inside.

"Don't track any mud! We've just had the floors waxed."

Will blinked, once, twice and the shuffled to remove the guitar case from her back. "Do you have a basement? I'll let them in there."

Cornelia nodded, knowing that she should feel grateful that Will was doing this for her – being keeper of the Heart of Kandrakar didn't include ferrying party guests after all – but as per usual, she couldn't feel anything towards the red head but mild resentment.

"Fine, fine," She looked over her shoulder for Matilda, the helper slash Nanny slash chef that her Mother had paid extra to work for the entire weekend so that she and her husband could go to Raleigh on a "business trip".

More like Daddy wanted to see his mistress and Mom decided to tag along, Cornelia huffed, but regardless, at least they were all out of the house.

* * *

For the party, Cornelia had chosen to wear a simple white halter dress, and curl her long blonde hair as tightly as she could. She was supposed to be Marilyn Monroe, however, she lacked the – _assets_ – to pull it off convincingly. Nevertheless, she did look very pretty.

Will silently trailed Cornelia, who had purposefully chosen the scenic route to the basement (meaning the part of the house with the most expensive knick knacks) before she quickly descended a narrow corridor.

The basement was clean, gray and filled with old toys, clothes and exercise equipment. Will frowned at the normalcy of it all. She'd never had a basement.

"I'll just open it here, go in for a second and then bring them back out." Will had a husky sort of voice, Cornelia paid more attention to that than the explanation, it was the kind singers have, and would have been nice if everything else weren't so dismal.

"All right," the blonde nodded before sparing another glance at the basement door. She'd locked it, but her sister was, after all … a spirited child prone to bouts of mischief.

There was a sudden flash of bright light before Will shed her hat, then jacket and slipped into the fold she'd created. Cornelia had counted to ten before the redhead returned, Caleb in tow (her heart leapt) and then with fourteen or so tiny chattering … things (her heart sank).

"Is this booman world?" A cat-eyed girl with whiskers nearly screamed. The children clung to each other in a small group, while those on the outside clung to Caleb. If she weren't so mortified, Cornelia would have found it cute.

"It is _hoo-_man," said a little boy, who almost resembled a normal person – expect that he had a tail and some scales.

Will, stoic as ever, closed the portal. "I'll be back around eleven to re-open it."

"That's fine." Cornelia, wringing her hands, tried to smile and ease into the role of hostess. "Let me … um, help you out."

"I remember the way." Will said as she pulled on her jacket and hat. Cornelia watched as the redhead met Caleb's gaze, and the two stared each other down for a mere second. Then, Will shut her guitar case and rushed up the stairs.

Caleb stared at that basement door much longer than the blonde thought he had to. "So," she forced some cheer into her voice, "who wants some human food?"

* * *

Demon hunting was not as fun as it should be. Yan Lin had separated the four into two groups, one with herself and Eric and the other with Hay Lin and Irma. Hay Lin was clearly upset by the choice, and whimpered pathetically for five minutes before she'd finally gathered up her powders and leaves and moved to cover "the south-zone".

The sun was already setting by the time they hit the street leading to the Heatherfield Hospital. Irma could imagine what she must look like, walking around with a paper bag filled with foul leaves and chicken parts, covered in amulets – but the only persons on the street tonight were sugar-high eight year olds, who were more interested in potential Snickers bars than anything else.

"You may see a lot of different things tonight. You don't have to get rid of all of them, just the ones trying to hurt humans." Hay Lin led the way with a black wax candle, whose flame (apparently) turned blue around an evil presence. It was windy and cold tonight, and every three minutes she had to relight – which impeded progress severely.

"So we're checking the hospital first?"

"Yep, anywhere that a lot of people have died has a high spiritual energy. So we can start there, before it gets too crowded." Hay Lin mumbled, clearly still depressed that Eric wasn't the one beside her, "by midnight tonight we'll never be able to sort through the good and the bad ones."

"How long have you been doing this?" Irma asked.

"Forever," the Asian sighed, "I've always had to help Nana …" she looked wistfully at a passing lady bird girl with a plastic pumpkin container, "I've never been trick or treating."

Irma's heart squeezed a little, she'd been trick or treating a dozen times – hadn't thought much of it. Briefly, she considered Hay Lin, who didn't have any friends (besides her and … Will … to an extent), didn't go to school and spent most of her time either writing essays for her mother or going over potions ingredients with her grandmother. Irma cleared her throat, "So, tell me a little about Eric. I see you've got a crush on him."

Although you could do so much better. "Who me?" The candle shook precariously, "no, no … I-I … Oh my gosh … is it obvious?"

Hay Lin looked beet red, and as though she might cry. "A little bit … yeah."

"He doesn't know I exist." Hay Lin's pigtails seemed to droop at the confession. "I've known him for years, and all he says to me is," she deepened her voice and actually sounded much more masculine than Eric when she said, "_What's the reading on your energy compass_?"

"Hmm," Irma shook her head, not understanding the appeal, charm or charisma of nose-picking Eric, who had been teased mercilessly by even the nerdiest nerd since the second grade. "You know what you need to do," Irma said, "play hard to get. Men love the chase. But once they know you like them, you'll never get 'em."

"That doesn't make sense."

"That's men though. Look at Corny, she's bending herself over backwards for Caleb, who pays more attention to Will, who pretends like she doesn't care if he exists."

"I don't think Will's pretending."

"Not the point." Hay Lin sighed, outing the candle, "I just … every time I see him I get so nervous … and I can't think or breathe … and I just talk … about nothing. He must think I'm so stupid."

"Happens to the best of us –" And she was about to give Hay Lin some advice (involving push-up bras and fragrance mists) when a nearby noise ended the conversation.

"What was _that_?" Hay Lin turned towards the rustling bushes beside her, Irma, a few steps behind, balked at the strange smell.

"Goblins," Hay Lin said before she even saw the first clubbed foot. She reached into her pouch for her powders but it was too late, the two spindly creatures had already deserted the bushes and were racing along the sidewalk towards the houses, pushing scores of children aside as they went. "Goblins are attracted to houses with food and children! That could be anywhere tonight!" Hay Lin didn't waste another second, she gave chase, never noticing that Irma had turned and run in the other direction – towards the Heatherfield Cemetery.

* * *

"Your friends are gross!" said Lillian to her sister, a mere fifteen minutes into the party. For once, Cornelia couldn't fault her. They were gross. They hated the "human food". And spat out everything they tasted. Anything they didn't spit they threw at each other.

Matilda was particularly distressed. She'd hidden all of the crystal and china before yanking Lillian outside to carry her trick or treating. Caleb was no help. He seemed to find their antics hilarious, and even encouraged them when they began using the DVDs as Frisbees.

It was more than a relief when Elyon showed up. Cornelia had encouraged her to go as Audrey Hepburn, and she had readily listened, although she was less than comfortable in the wide brimmed hat and tight black dress (Breakfast at Tiffany's, was Cornelia's favourite movie). Her mother had hated the get-up and had been sober enough, long enough, to tell her just that.

"Oh Elyon, thank God!" Cornelia's pretty white dress was covered in cupcake stains and her bright red lipstick was smeared across her cheek. "I cannot handle this!"

She pulled the smaller girl inside, not offering an explanation for the small – animal people in her now icing covered foyer. "Umm, C-Cornelia …"

"So the guy I like …" Cornelia finally stopped pulling when they reached the kitchen, it was so far untouched, "he um, works at this orphanage. So I decided to invite some of the kids. But Jesus, Lord in Heaven! I cannot handle them!"

"Um … th-their costumes a-are r-really nice." Damned nice for orphanages actually, Elyon thought as a very realistic moth-child scampered past the kitchen door. Cornelia looked perfectly ready to burst into tears before the object of her affection sauntered into the kitchen. Elyon didn't need an introduction, or reassurance, he was just Cornelia's type. He was tall, tanned, and toned with thick dark hair that fell messily across his face.

When he looked at her, Elyon felt a shudder as the clearest green eyes she'd ever seen, glanced over Cornelia's beautiful face, and then shifted to hers – and kept searching. "With whom do you speak, Cornelia?"

"Um … my friend … Elyon." Cornelia, clearly transfixed, made a slight indication to her side. Elyon gulped. But Caleb's eyes never met hers, instead he focused on the cupboards behind her quite strangely. She felt her stomach knot and then drop. Naturally, the beautiful boy would never look at her.

"I came to thank you – formally, once more, for your kindness in allowing the children here. I have not seen them so elated in a great many months." He smiled warmly at her, and then, to Cornelia's utmost delight, he took her hands into his and dropped a single kiss across her knuckles.

Elyon was surprised to see Cornelia snort, yes snort, and blush right up to the roots of her hair. She watched the interaction between the two. They were both so beautiful together. There was no room for her here. Mother was right, she was too ugly, too poor – what was she doing? She could run outside right now and no one would even notice! She could –!

"Ouch!" Suddenly, the couple pulled away. Cornelia stared at her hands, watching her knuckles with an absolutely fascinated expression. "D-Did you feel that?" Caleb nodded, although he didn't look quite as love struck. In anycase, the conversation ended abruptly when four of the costumed children ran into the kitchen.

Cornelia cooed immediately, "Now, remember what Aunty Cornelia said – no, no to the kitchen! Especially _no_ to Aunty's new, _expensive_ oven."

"It is Hay Lin!" One child yelled, his face a grotesque leathery mask that must have cost hundreds of dollars. But it couldn't have … it couldn't have.

"What is Hay Lin doing here?" Caleb asked. Without waiting for an answer, he followed the squealing children into the foyer.

"Um … Elyon," Cornelia looked suddenly pale, "maybe you should go for right now. This party … is honestly … not going how I'd hoped."

"B-But … I-I …j-just got here." To which Cornelia threw a troubled look at the door. "I'll make it up to you," she gave her a weak smile. "I promise." And before Elyon could even fathom a reply, she was shoved along the back passage to the rear entrance.

* * *

"I've got some bad news …" Caleb had let HayLin into the house, and she had taken more than her share of liberties by opening every closet, drawer and hiding place and spilling the contents onto the floors. "Goblins!" She breathed, while Caleb patted her awkwardly on the back.

"Are these another kind of earth female?" He asked with all seriousness. "What?" Hay Lin looked at him, her eyes were bright and frantic, "No! Look Caleb, you have to help me find them! They break everything in sight!"

She shuddered as a heavy crash came from upstairs, and then both she and Caleb, and the sticky faced Meridian children watched as a massive oak chest of drawers rattled down the stairs.

"W-what … was that!" Cornelia rushed into the foyer, clumsily jumping over children in a pretty white dress before watching, paled faced as her mother's furniture tumbled down the stairs. "Jesus. Joseph. Mary." She gasped, "That's … two hundred years old!" Hay Lin flinched, and then scampered upstairs after Cornelia, in a voice that lingered between God and Margaret Thatcher, screamed, "FIX THIS HAY LIN!"

* * *

In the end, Cornelia, with Caleb behind her, had to eventually go help Hay Lin "fix it". The Goblins, short, green tinged, knobby kneed things, flinched a little when Hay Lin had tossed salt in their faces – but had recovered long enough to string the teenager up like Christmas lights along the banister.

Cornelia was not having it. As Caleb, distracted by a dozen little hands that just wanted to help, tried to pull Hay Lin down, the smaller girl explained rapidly that Cornelia needed to throw salt at the little things until they exploded. She wasn't having that either. Instead, the blonde took a heavy bronze candlestick from off of one of the side-tables, and showed those nasty little things just why Cornelia Hale was ranked third in the state in Under-16 lawn tennis. With a single solid swing she sent the first goblin sliding across the hallway, unconscious. The next one, noting trouble, tried to run – but she was faster, and only seconds later, a second thud heralded its defeat as well.

It was a graceful thing to watch this demure, southern belle suddenly transform in a warrior princess. It was a sight that Caleb, still swatting away hands and detangling Hay Lin, couldn't help but stare at.

* * *

It was late by the time Irma had darted into the cemetery. By now, all of the children had returned home, while some of the teenagers had started to trickle outside for a night of boozing and trouble. She would have been one of those teens tonight. If she hadn't seen her mother, she would have been cuddled up on the back seat of Andrew Hornby's pickup truck, trying (but not too hard) to keep his hands from wandering under her skirt.

This was more important. The ice cold chill that still ran along her skin and trickled along her spine into pools of trepidation told her so. Maybe it was nerves – she was (and had been for the last few minutes) seated on her mother's grave, Indian style. She didn't know what to do, besides that. She'd seen on TV (and read in a couple tacky paranormal romances) that you needed to bring some personal effects to the graveside to summon the deceased. That's why she'd brought the locket and a few old photographs. However, there seemed to be more to it than that. And Irma, seated in the frosty night breeze, couldn't figure out what that would be.

Her heart plummeted suddenly as she realized that this was hopeless. Yan Lin wasn't going to help her. No one could.

That was what triggered the first tranche of tears to her eyes. Irma brushed them away quickly, the friction causing her face to redden almost immediately but she didn't care. It had been years since she'd cried. It had been right here actually, watching, somber faced, as her mother was taken away from her.

That broke away the shield across her battered heart, and sob after empty sob leapt from her raw throat, creating an empty, bark-like sorrow, only heard in people un-used to the feeling of sadness.

"Mama," she whispered, digging her fingers in the dried flowers her Dad had brought there just last week, "Mama, I miss you." The tears dropped freely along her face now, clouding her words, lightening her heart but doing nothing for her spirit.

"I miss you so much." Irma gasped, taking the quiet emptiness around her as an insult, nothing else. "I need you, Mama."

And then there was something; a spark of energy, like cobwebs draped against her skin. It pulled her forward, right above her mother's headstone. It was her.

"Mama!" Irma jumped to her feet, the heavy locket still clutched in her ice cold hands. She found that she was frozen stiff. Her muscles felt as though they were glued to the spot with heavy duty cement. "Mama, I'm so glad to see you! I knew it was you!"

The vision didn't say anything for a long time. She simply hovered above the hard October earth, dressed in a flowery purple gown that Mr Lair had picked out for her. It was her, more shadow than woman, but it was her. Irma recognized her curly honey hair and wide green eyes. They looked so much alike. It wasn't her imagination. The rush of pure excitement in Irma's chest wouldn't fade.

She opened her mouth to call to the figure again, but stopped when a voice – more man than woman, more demon than man – whispered, "_danger_."

Irma was speechless then. She'd felt the words more than she'd heard them. Felt the pain and fear as it echoed through her distressed mind. Before she could decide on what to do next, it came again, stronger now, and with a sense of vigor and urgency.

"Danger. _Nerissa_."

* * *

**AUTHOR:** Naturally, Caleb cannot see Elyon because of the spell on her. Elyon, with her already fragile self-esteem is devastated by what she considers him ignoring her. So was that actually Irma's mother? Hmmm … who can tell?

I was going to put another scene at the end, but I felt that warning was the perfect place to end off on.

Well, I have heard the calls for more action. I know the plot has been lagging but there were several things I desperately needed to set up before I could get into the whole Phobos/Elyon saga. First, I needed to build up Elyon's fragility, setting the stage for Cedric to prey. I also worked a little with Phobos' vanity and madness. Also this entire Will/Nerissa bit is a little more important for when I actually do my Nerissa part, but the planned conclusion for the Phobos segment cannot do without it. But now it's plot time! Next H is for Heir. The Phobos saga ends at M, so just six more sections.


	18. H is for Heir

**La Dolce Vita**

**By Seniya**

**H** is for Heir

"_There was always someone ready to cut the heir with a knife_"

Terry Pratchett

* * *

Cedric arrived, without much fanfare, in Heatherfield in the pre-dawn hours of one Monday morning. It had taken him longer than he had anticipated finding a vacant rip in the veil, and as a result he was at least three earth days behind schedule.

His master, now more demented than ever before, had practically chased him out of the castle, (in front of his own men) after another failed attempt to extract information from the black witch. Personally, he was certain that he could have done a better job of getting that whore to talk – but his master had not commanded it.

Needless to say, Cedric was pissed as he walked along the deserted streets. The moon was still in the sky, (one moon, he noted, but didn't think too much about it) although closer to the earth as the sun inevitably prepared to catch it. The street lights were still on, casting an eerie white-gold glow across the cemented streets and tidy, faded green lawns.

The night was chilly – not that he noticed. And his breath appeared in short cloudy puffs alongside the hideous human nose that his master had made.

Truly, this form was revolting. However, he couldn't think too much about that either. Instead, his mission echoed endlessly in his mind. _Walk faster_, the voice chanted, _turn here_. He listened, having no choice – it was, after all, the voice of his Master.

The voice directed him past a long series on neat bungalows, towards one in the middle of the street. It wasn't as tidy as the others – actually the shiny, red, wheeled creature stationed beside the house was obviously given far better care.

Of course, he paid that no mind either.

He followed the instructions onto the front porch, obediently pressing a small button next to the door. Once, twice, three times, four – ah, yes.

"Coming! Coming!" A groggy voice came from inside, followed by heavy footsteps on the wooden floors. Cedric waited patiently outside as the lights on the inside flashed on and then finally, the front door opened.

Cedric pulled his muscles into a tight smile. "Dean Collins?" He inquired.

The man, dressed in an old collegiate sweatshirt and thick flannel pants, nodded as he tried to force his glasses on his face. "Yes," he breathed, "can I help …"

He didn't get to finish the sentence, because at that moment, bathed in the soft moonlight dancing across the purpling sky – his intruder's jaw unhinged, and swallowed him whole.

* * *

"I am _pissed_." Yan Lin sulked over the wok, stirring furiously even as she ranted. Her son and his wife were coming back next week, and would want to review the restaurant's books, meaning that she had approximately six days to make a very substantial profit.

"Well, at least we have all these … new ingredients." Hay Lin had been called away from her studies to help during the lunch time rush. She was mashing oranges and pineapples for the sweet and sour chicken, while trying to decide just what to do with the several bags of chicken feet and rosemary bushes that had been left over from Halloween.

"Two goblins and a pixie!" Her grandmother was outraged. Halloween had been a bust. No ghouls, boogiemen, poltergeists, zombies or headless horsemen. It had been the most uneventful thing in her lifetime. Which was saying a hell of a lot.

"Maybe it's because of all the activity in Meridian?" Hay Lin suggested, but her grandmother disagreed. "Maybe it's because Lilith is going through menopause!"

Hay Lin was about to note that she doubted that the Queen of Hades had time to ruin her grandmother's Halloween fun, but she doubted the message would penetrate. She already had the manic glint in Yan Lin's hooded eyes. It meant that she'd already made up her mind.

"Are you gonna call her?"

"Yeah, right after lunch. She's always in a better mood after she'd had her barbequed baby souls."

Hay Lin nodded, before going back to her mashing. A conversation with Irma flickered through her mind – something _had_ happened during Halloween, but she couldn't exactly tell her grandmother about it. First of all, Irma had summoned the dead, ditched the mission and provoked a demon all on the same night. It wasn't good. If that wasn't bad enough, Irma had sworn her to secrecy – and since Irma was essentially her only real friend, she didn't want to upset her.

"Nana, Nerissa is the old woman who summoned Will that one time right?"

The stirring behind her stopped. "Yes. Why?" The way her grandmother had asked, made Hay Lin's blood chill, "Um, nothing. Just wondering if you know… you'd dealt with that problem."

"Actually, I have." The stirring resumed, "she shouldn't be bothering Will anymore."

Hay Lin was satisfied.

* * *

"So, apparently," Irma had been waiting for Will (a habit she'd adopted) right outside the first pair of metal detectors in the High School's yard, "Mr Bore Me A River, aka Mr Collins has skipped town."

Will, who was usually quiet during these meetings, (especially after morning sessions with Caleb) perked up. "What do you mean skipped town?"

"Well, from what I hear," Irma clicked her tongue, sensing an audience, and paused for dramatic effect, "the school received a letter this morning saying he'd moved to Raleigh."

"But I had class with him on Friday. He made us read three chapters of "Excrement in Ancient Rome." Will, who had actually ready two of those chapters, was now upset at the colossal waste of time. She now possessed more knowledge of feces disposal that could ever be necessary.

"Well, he's gone now Billy. But it gets better! The substitute can only be described as Gabriel Aubry in dress pants." Irma was practically salivating, but she stopped when Will looked at her strangely. "Who's Gabriel Aubry?"

"Is Texas on the moon or something?"

"Look, whatever – "

"No, not whatever. This is serious girl talk time! Not to mention my education is in jeopardy! I won't learn a darn thing staring at that man's behind." She tugged at the end of her curly brown ponytail.

Will couldn't think of a response to that. She'd never stared at a man's behind in her life. Except maybe Caleb's – but that was because he was always shoving his in her face, showing her battle stances. She frowned as the admission crossed her mind.

Irma seemed to sense it. "So, how are things with you and Caleb?"

Will's stomach flopped around immediately, wondering if Irma had somehow read her thoughts. "_Things_?" she recovered at once, "there are no things."

"You know what I mean," Irma paused as the morning bell rang, and the small crowds of students started to pushed towards the metal detectors. "How'd training go?"

"Well, today he showed me all the ways I could be decapitated if I didn't listen to him. You can imagine my elation."

Irma smiled before going inside, "I swear Wilhelmina Vandom. You are the weirdest teenage girl I have ever come across."

* * *

Cornelia had been overwhelmed by guilt ever since her Halloween party. She knew she'd treated Elyon terribly, and it had bothered her, mainly because she knew better. All of this stupid guardian stuff was getting in her way, messing up her life and destroying her teen years.

This morning she'd forced herself out of bed extra early, and skipped tennis practice to drive to the mall in Fadden Hills, a town just a few miles past Heatherfield. It was also the only place with a decent mall. She'd gotten Elyon a new box of eyeshadows, and her favourite brand of chocolate cupcakes – hoping those were enough for a peace offering.

As a result, she was a little late picking up Elyon for school that morning. The smaller blonde girl was sitting nervously on her front steps, fiddling with her phone when Cornelia finally drove up. Elyon was probably the most anxious person in the world, Cornelia thought, and who could blame her? He mother was a psychopath. It was a wonder that she could function.

"Hey, pretty lady!" Cornelia rolled down her window and called, "sorry I'm late."

Elyon nodded silently, grabbed her backpack and scrambled towards the passenger side of the car. She had a noticeable habit of walking with her head down and shuffling her feet. It really did hurt Cornelia to see her friend like this.

Once she was seated, Cornelia presented the gifts she'd driven out of town to get. "I know I've been a douchebag for the last few weeks. I'm sorry."

Elyon, with dull blue eyes watched the box of overpriced eyeshadows and the gourmet cupcakes, and then mumbled a quiet, "Thanks."

"You okay?" Cornelia turned her body to watch for traffic, but immediately returned her gaze to her friend after she'd pulled off the curb.

"Y-Yeah … I-I'm good."Cornelia didn't believe that for a second, for all of her blonde, self-absorbedness, she was remarkably astute. "Is it your Mom?"

"N-No. Nothing's w-wrong."

"Come on Elyon! We're best friends … you can tell me."

That got her. She started fiddling with her fingers again. Hands that were terribly abused, with nails that had been chewed on down to the quick. "N-No … i-it's nothing."

They pulled into the parking lot beside the High School then. Parking was never a problem in Heatherfield, since most people walked everywhere except when they were headed out of town. Cornelia was one of seven students who actually drove themselves to school.

She killed the engine and stared at her friend, "I said I was sorry. I'll make it up to you … I promise."

"I-I …" then, she sighed and without another word she rushed from the vehicle.

"Elyon!" Really, Cornelia wasn't used to her friend being like this. She grabbed her backpack and rushed from the car as well, only to realize that Elyon hadn't gotten out of the car park. There was a man directly in front of her, a tall, blonde man – getting out of Mr. Collins' car.

He seemed to sense the two girls were staring and turned to watch them. Cornelia's blood pounded so fiercely, it was as though she would faint. He spoke first, revealing a wide mouth, with full, generous lips and exceptionally white teeth.

"Good morning," he said, his accent was different. It was precise, upper class, and distinctly European. "I see you're late as well." He came closer to Cornelia, walking past Elyon in the process. He smiled widely, and extended his hand. "Mr. Ames," He introduced himself, captured her trembling fingers in his, "I'll be teaching History here … I fear, that I don't know the way. Would you be so kind as to show me to the Principal's office …"

"Cornelia," she breathed, loving the way her hand felt in his fingers. "Sure ... I'll show you."

Cornelia managed to keep her composure as she walked into the main school building, even when she noticed that by the time she'd torn her gaze away from Mr. Ames, Elyon had already disappeared.

* * *

Cedric seen the Earth guardian first. He could _smell_ her, almost taste the mud on her flesh, besides that, he'd remembered her disgusting yellow hair and too pale skin. The water witch was next. She had stared openly at him for a full five minutes, even if he couldn't smell the magic on her, the garish way she exposed her fat breasts would have caught his attention soon enough.

The keeper danced on the periphery of his overactive glands. Small and red, her scent was the strongest. He wanted to tear her flimsy body into shreds. He wanted to kill her. And the blood lust was so strong that he had to turn away. He'd even smelled another guardian, this one he hadn't met. He could tell it was the fire creature from the sulphur and ash – but he hadn't paid that one any mind.

Cedric couldn't afford to blow this assignment. Master would kill him if he ever dared. He needed to focus on the princess. Although, if the Princess was there – he hadn't seen her.

Mind you, there was something else there – something mild – something he couldn't see, lurking in the corner. It was driving him insane.

When the time came for him to actually do something about this teacher façade, he was terribly annoyed. He stomped into the too bright room in front of the blur of colours and shapes. He couldn't make out much beside the rush of movement and the taste of browns and blues and reds – and the noise. The dreaded noise.

It quieted a bit when he entered the room, only a few whispers lingered, but the thudding of heavy human blood still rang in his ears.

"Class." His tongue lingered on the "s" a bit longer than necessary, a familiar trait that he told himself he should suppress. No one seemed to notice. "I am Mr. Ames-s."

There was a cat call from the back of the room, and then more snickers. "Can anyone tell me where your … last teacher would have left off?"

There was a sudden squeak and the tang of sulphur intensified. The fire guardian was speaking. "Mr. Ames, we were discussing Ancient Rome. Mr Collins had said we would begin Julius Caeser this week."

These were fables he knew precious little about. He extended his tongue slightly outside of his lip. It was still there, the muted smell of something – someone. "What do you know about Julius Caeser? We can … discuss it today."

The same voice replied, followed now by grumblings from the rest of the class. "Well, where do I start? Narcissist? Strategist? He started off in the army, worked his way through the ranks. Eventually, he held nearly almost every significant title in Rome. The Senate soon began to fear that he wanted to be King, so they killed him."

Cedric moved between the rows of students, blurs of aromas and shapes. He paused, there it was, just a hint – a garnish atop of the murky meats and seasonings. "Do you know who killed Caeser?" He turned towards the smell, soft and powdery, wetting his lips.

"Well, yeah," said the ashy fire guardian, "his best friend. Marcus Brutus."

"Your name?" He tried to focus on the smell beside him and there was a brief moment before success revealed itself. "E-Elyon Brown." He felt it rather than heard it. His new human ears were not accustomed to their position on the sides of his face.

"Please. S-Stay after class."

* * *

By the time school had finally let out and the girls had made their way to Meridian, Cornelia was in a foul mood. Elyon had successfully ignored her all day, a first since the day they'd met. She'd done everything in her power to make it up to the blonde, but apparently she'd been kept back by the new sexy-ass History teacher.

Irma was green with envy. The 10 foot long water whip she was making showed her frustration. It refused to curve upwards in the centre, and it had been fifteen feet yesterday. "So did she flunk or something?"

Will, who was tired of answering these questions turned to frown at the brunette. "I dunno he just told her to stay back. I doubt he's seen our grades …"

Caleb rapped her on her shoulder with a staff while she was chatting. "Dead. Again."

"I was on time-out."

"There is no time out in battle! I have told you a thousand times! I've killed you seven times in the last three minutes."

Annoyed by his tone, Will flung her sword down on the grassy plain beside the rebel's newest hovel, and pointed at his chest, "those last three did not count!"

"They all count!" And while she was contemplating a reply, he pressed the staff behind her calves. "Eight."

The crowd of small spectators cheered from atop of the roof of the main house. It was a daily occurrence, and over the last few weeks watching the guardians and Caleb train was a favorite past-time of many of the rebel children.

Caleb always won, which made it all even better.

The new headquarters weren't yet finished, but they were already a lot more attractive than the first one. This was made of wood, rather than mud, and was set fully upright in the middle of a grassy field. Even though Meridian was perpetually dark, today, the heavy moonlight made the three story building look almost cozy.

As they practiced, men carried logs of wood for the fence, which was almost half-way done. That forty foot barrier was the only reminder that this wasn't a home.

Cornelia watched the proceedings with absolute disinterest. It annoyed her that Caleb was focused so intently on Will. It pissed her off that Irma kept talking about Elyon. She was also annoyed that she was here in Meridian, when she should be at the mall, or in her room doing her nails with her best friend, while reading Cosmo. Not to mention that it irritated her to no end that no one had even noticed that she was upset!

HayLin wasn't here today (although she may have cared) since she and her grandmother were in the cemetery giving the town gossips enough fodder for a decade or two.

Then again, she'd probably been overly optimistic to assume Irma, the bimbo and Will, the train wreck, would notice if even the world were to fall apart before them. Huffing, she folded her arms across her green sweater, and tossed her long golden hair behind her shoulder. "Are we done for today?"

Will, who had looked as though she might strangle Caleb if left with him for another instant, nodded eagerly. "Yes!"

"You are done when I say you are finished."

"You're a damn chauvinistic pig, you know that?"

"What in the name of Hades does that blasted hog have to do with –"

"Caleb!" All further conversation was interrupted by a single voice, growing thunderous as a brown figure pelted across the plain. The children on the rooftop, as well as the workers stopped what they were doing to watch. "Aldarn?" Caleb seemed transfixed by the green skinned man running towards the encampment, as though Hell itself was on his heels.

"Caleb!" With at least a hundred pairs of eyes on his back, the slender man practically collapsed onto his knees before Caleb and the guardians, "I-I" he gasped and then spat, "I have news from the palace."

Caleb sank onto the ground with his friend, "tell me brother! What news is this?"

"Cedric! Cedric has been ordered to Earth by Phobos!" There were murmurs from every corner. "They say he has gone to find the lost Princess. Phobos' sister."

"Damn!" Caleb swore, and then wiped his palm across his face, "when?"

"Not long," Aldarn breathed, "only a few days in Earth time or maybe less." His yellow eyes watched in mute fascination as Caleb began to pace.

"That snake thing is on Earth?" Irma wrinkled her nose, "gross."

"Don't be so stupid Irma," Cornelia snapped, "It's kinda hard to hide a sixteen foot snake in the suburbs."

"He wouldn't be in his demonic form," although he was speaking, Caleb's entire manner suggested that he was miles away, lost in thought. "Cedric is a creation of Phobos' magic. He may change into anything he pleases – once his master wills it."

"Phobos has a sister?" Will turned to face the rebel leader. "Why didn't you tell us before?" He was quiet for a long time, and Will was about to snap again when the answer finally came. "When I first came to Earth, I was looking for her. I thought you … might have been her. It was why I brought you here in the first place."

"Wait … hold the phone. Will's the princess?" Irma seemed equally concerned and elated.

"Gods no." Caleb replied, and Will frowned heavily at his tone (again). "After I met you Guardians … Phobos seemed to lose interest in seeking his sister. In truth, we could never imagine why he wanted her in the first place. So I imagined it had only been a whim. The King does not usually make sense."

When no one pried, he continued on his own. "In Meridian, the firstborn daughter is the rightful heir to the throne. Phobos' father, Ares, sent her away when she was just an infant because he refused to have a woman rule his lands. Or so … the story goes. Anyways, this Princess is the rightful ruler of Meridian."

"So, to recap, the evil King has a potentially evil sister living next door to me? And you don't know who she is?" Cornelia was getting a migraine, "and there's a snake-man in disguise also in Heatherfield. Jesus, I should have stayed home today."

"There has to be a way to find Phobos' sister. Maybe a spell or …"

"Lucia's gone. There are no spells." Caleb sighed, "I'll have to go back to Earth."

"Cedric is Mr. Ames." Will said, and Irma immediately burst into protest. "Don't be crazy Will! Evil would not have such a fantastic ass!"

"Just think about it. Mr. Collins suddenly disappears and we get a new teacher the very next day. He didn't even know anything about History today. Taranee taught the class."

Irma snorted, "In his defense, Taranee teaches every class. Her goal in life is to be reincarnated as an Encyclopedia."

However, Cornelia had paled considerably, "wait … didn't you say he was with Elyon?"

"Yeah … he made her …" Will's nonchalance faltered, "…stay after class." There was a moment when everyone realized what this could mean.

"B-But … Elyon can't be the princess. She …" Cornelia stuttered, "she's my best friend."

"Stranger things have happened Cornflake." Irma rolled her eyes, "although … Elyon lacks the … um … charm."

"Leave her alone! You don't know!" Filled with nervous energy, she turned on Will, "well hurry up! Make a portal! We gotta get home!"

* * *

Alone in the caverns below the castle, Phobos wandered along the dungeons, wrapped in his mother's favorite shawl. There was blood on the silk, blood on his lips, and now blood on the floor and walls in his wake.

He was cold.

Tonight had been a particularly grueling bout of his sickness. Now, without a question he could see the end of his life. He was one and twenty years old, and a virtual ghost. It was almost funny. Almost.

He fumbled with the latch at one of the dungeon doors, it slipped in his bloodied hands but he eventually got inside. "Witch," he hissed, "witch, where are you."

Lucia was thinner and weaker, now curled into the corner of the cell. She didn't have the strength to answer, although, she wouldn't even if she could.

"Heal me." He looked, in that moment, even inch of the crazed monster he was becoming. He wanted to smile. He would smile in the end. "Heal me, you whore!"

Phobos laughed for a mere second, before the coughing took hold again.

Lucia breathed uneasily, forcing a smirk on her chapped lips, a show of confidence. "Your majesty, you don't look so good."

"Kill me!" He mumbled, the blood bubbling in the corner of his lips. "I swore to her … that I would live, but I can't! I can't!"

His blonde hair fell in thick clumps around his face, and Lucia shifted slightly when he threw himself into her unwilling arms. "I want to die. Let me die."

"You do not deserve death, my King."

He sobbed uncontrollably then. Hot, clear tears mingling with blood for what seemed like hours before a breathless palace guard entered the dungeon. "My Lord, your man, Cedric has returned. He has your sister with him."

A moment passed, then two. "It seems like you're right."

* * *

**Author:** Well, sorry (again) that took so long. I've been writing it for 3 weeks. This chapter is most important for Cedric. His name, Ames, is homage to Aldrich Ames, who's listed as one of the most famous traitors in History. Also, the mention of Caeser and his death are also important, for the same reason.

Yes, I killed off Mr Collins. I never fancied him, and Will's mom is too hot in my story to date such a bore. Anyway, five more chapters in the Phobos sage, hopefully I is for Illusion will be coming soon.

Thanks for all the support, reviews are welcomed.


	19. I is for Illusion Part 1

La Dolce Vita

By Seniya

I is for Illusion

Part 1

**It is our illusions that create the world**

Didier Cauwelaert

* * *

It was late in the afternoon by the time the girls tumbled out of the latest portal in the Heatherfield Cemetery. The sun was a dull gold orb against a bloody sky, which was slightly hidden by thick, grey clouds. A cold wind whipped across the graveyard, hissing when the marble ornaments blocked its path.

"I thought we were supposed to get out by the school!" Cornelia was terrified and nervous, but of course, the only emotion she let escape was annoyance.

Will frowned back at her, "I can't always get them to open where I want – "

"Oh for God's sake!" She huffed, her thin golden hair whipping against her alabaster skin in the pre-evening breeze, "You can't ever do anything right!" Then, she stormed off.

"See what happens what you don't eat three meals a day." Irma muttered from next to Will. The brunette was visibly shivering in her less than appropriate tank top, Bermuda shorts and paper thin hoodie, and her teeth chattered when she tried to smirk.

Will's frown only deepened.

By now Caleb had also joined the conversation, "where is she going?"

"The school," Irma said, and then sighed, "I just want you all to hear it here first. I doubt Elyon is the missing Princess, and even if she was, that girl couldn't burst a grape in a fruit fight in Welch's backyard."

The portal disappeared with little more than a hum, and Will pushed the sword back into its guitar case before slinging it over her shoulder. "We should probably get YanLin and tell her what's going on."

"Fun," Irma replied, but followed Will along the winding path towards the street anyway. "Hey, does it seem extra quiet today to you?"

Will shrugged her small shoulders in reply, "we're in a cemetery. It is not a cultural hub." But she had noticed it too. No birds chirping, no children running across the back of the church, daring each other to go further into the graveyard, maybe to the edge of the forest. When they strolled past the church, there was no excited yapping, not even a stanza of "Swing Low" from the youth choir who practiced after school almost on a daily basis.

However, it was not until the three stepped onto the sidewalk that they saw it: dozens of bodies, motionless atop of the sidewalk and into the street. A car horn honked from up the road where they could see that someone had run headfirst into an oak tree.

"Oh my God!" Irma breathed, rushing forward to check a little girl who was crumpled under her tricycle. "Are they dead?"

Caleb had joined her, pressing his quick fingers against the child's neck, but she remained still. The sight claimed whatever heat may have remained. Will swallowed to remove the thick lump that had lodged itself in her throat. Her heart thudded loudly in her ears as her thoughts jumped to her mother – was she ok?

"She is asleep." Caleb, looking uncertain, placed the girl back on the side walk, but removed her tricycle from between her legs.

"Asleep?" Will echoed, watching the other bodies that littered the streets.

"D-Do you think Cedric did this?" Irma must have been thinking about her parents too and her little brother, because the fear that reached out from behind her eyes seemed to banish all doubt about the identity of their new teacher.

"He is not known for spells. Although, perhaps on Earth he could have."

"Do you think the whole town is like this?" Irma asked, but Caleb didn't seem to know what to say.

"We have to go to YanLin – she'll –"

It was the broken howl that came from behind the group that snapped them out of their reverie. Caleb had already sprung into action, pushing Will behind him and brandishing a knife. He needn't have worried because the sound was only Hay Lin.

Her face was covered in greasy tears which had dampened her sweater and hands. When she spoke, it was in a horrible sob-choked song of a voice, "I-I … Nana … is dead."

"What?" Irma rushed forward, "YanLin can't die! She can't!"Indeed, of all the things that had ever happened to them (parallel worlds, giant snake men and bug children included), this seemed the most impossible.

"She isn't dead." The others turned towards the newest voice, sickly calm despite the turmoil that seemed imminent. "She's asleep," said Taranee, "everyone in Heatherfield is asleep, except for us because we're guardians. The spell or whatever, didn't work on us."

* * *

Cornelia had seen the piles of still bodies (they were terribly hard to miss), collapsed in various positions all across the town. The baker was draped across a dozen of his cupcakes, struck down as he went to push them into the display window beneath the cash register. There was a jogger and her dog – she was sprawled on top of the asphalt but the yellow lab was not. It barked and howled to an unresponsive mistress, trapped by the firm grip on his leash that hadn't loosened in sleep.

Children were particularly eerie to see, hundreds of them were littered across the walkway up to the Elementary School, caught mid-run as they started to rush home.

She had started running after she saw that. Cornelia was quite fast, years of tennis had made her body as taunt as any professional athlete. Still, even as her legs pumped and her arms brushed her side, she couldn't banish the thought that it wasn't enough. She should have transformed! What could she do like this!

Cornelia was not one to feel helpless. Vulnerability was not something she understood or embraced and that was why, more than any other reason, that run to Heatherfield High was the longest fifteen minutes of her life.

"Elyon!" The halls and gardens of the High School were much like those next door. People were crumpled everywhere, hanging like cobwebs against a forgotten ceiling. They clung to the stairs and caught between doorways and tumbled out of lockers. "Elyon!"

Her voice travelled all throughout the quiet halls, darting into rooms before springing back out to echo in her ears. "Dammit! Elyon!"

But she knew the truth before she ever set foot into classroom in the High School, before she ever touched every blonde head she saw. Elyon wasn't there.

* * *

"It happened very fast. Everyone just dropped like flies," Taranee snapped her fingers for emphasis, startling Hay Lin who was latched onto her Grandmother's side like a fifth limb. They had come back to the Silver Dragon, and set up a pow wow in the fancier dining room with the exclusion of Irma, who had run home to check on her family (which was, of course the normal thing to do).

Will hadn't. She wasn't sure what she'd do if she found her mother sprawled across their tacky velvet sofa with her stories on. So she avoided the situation to the best of her ability and sat across the wooden table with Taranee and Caleb, forcing her erratic thoughts into a plan.

"If Cedric is responsible, this is a diversion." Caleb looked as though he would give anything to get away from the table. It was too still for him, too passive. While the world was collapsing around him he should not be standing still in the midst of it. "We would do well to ignore it."

"How can we ignore the fact that our town is asleep?" Taranee, who enjoyed arguing for the sake of arguments, relished in the fact that Caleb made a contrary remark every three minutes.

"If Cedric is who cast the spell, it would be broken on his death."

"And if he is not." She raised her dark eyebrows.

"Then we can return to find the true cause. It is not like they are going anywhere."

Hay Lin howled again. She had propped her grandmother up in a lounge chair, but Yan Lin who was at least one hundred years old did not have the youth to look young even in her sleep. She looked as though she'd rise at any second and begin scolding Will for tracking in mud on her fancier dining room (which had been used to entertain the governor in the eighties).

"Stop it!" Will mumbled finally, shaking herself from thoughts of her mother, "We can't fight Cedric anyways. And if he's got Elyon, he probably took her to her brother who we definitely cannot beat."

Irma returned a moment later, looking like a shell of her former self. Her eyes were red around the edges but no one had the lack of social sense to mention it. "Cornelia is coming." She mumbled.

True enough, Cornelia, disheveled and very, very pale, walked in only seconds after. She didn't say anything, but after the flood of still bodies across the town, no one had really expected her to find Elyon.

There were a few moments of silence that Irma felt obligated to break, even in her depression. "That awkward moment when your best friend turns out to be a princess of an alternate universe." She sniffled at the end and no one laughed. Finally, Hay Lin whined what everyone was thinking, "what are we going to do?"

It was as though a ton of bricks had fallen on Will's shoulders. She was already too tiny, hunched over in the corner, her neck sloping downwards as she stared at her distorted shadow on the table. She felt every eye on her, waiting for her answer but when the sound came they wished it hadn't. "There's nothing we can do for Elyon right now. We can't storm the castle, we can't get her back. Not yet."

"That is shit Will!" Cornelia screamed, she was already on her feet waving her finger accusingly. "What the hell do you mean, not yet? He could kill her by the time you've pulled your act together!"

"Getting ourselves killed won't help anyone Cornelia." Will said, and to her credit, she did not falter. "Right now we have to fix this … We have to wake Yan Lin up at least because we can't do this on our own."

"You mean _you_ can't do this on your own." Cornelia snapped, she had started pacing, and Will was almost relieved to note that the eyes had decided to follow her instead. "I don't know who made you leader anyways! What, you think because you have that stupid sword you can tell me what to do! Well, you can't!"

"We can vote." Hay Lin chirped, but Cornelia rebuffed that as well. "We are not putting my friend's life to a vote!"

"Well, what do you wanna do Cornflake! Because if you didn't realize, we can't help your bff if we're snake food!" Irma snapped, "Besides, Elyon is not more important than everyone else in this town."

The blonde was about to respond, but Caleb's chipped tone cut her off. "Arguing amongst yourselves will not help anyone. This spell is a distraction … but one you cannot ignore." He watched Cornelia with solemn jade eyes, "I would not worry about your friend, if Cedric has not killed her already, he will not."

It was a small comfort, if any, but Cornelia didn't argue the point any longer. Elyon was either dead already, or beyond her reach. Her throat clogged up and her eyes stung but she refused to cry. Instead, she stomped out of the room.

"I can see now why no one wanted me to join this sorority." Taranee joked, but the silence continued. Awkwardly, she cleared her throat, "So," she turned to Will, "I take it you're in charge. What are we doing about this spell?"

"Um," Will bit her lip. She wished Yan Lin were here or Lucia but that was stupid. She was used to doing things by herself. It was something she prided herself on – of course she didn't usually have the fate of a thousand people on her back. "Hay Lin, maybe one of your Nana's spellbooks has something."

"I-I'll check," She cast a longing glance towards her grandmother, choked back a sob and then hustled into the basement.

"We should all help her check, it will go faster." Taranee put in, trying to be helpful. "I could google."

"You're an asset to our team," Irma droned. "I'll help Hay Lin look."

"Yeah," Will stood as well, "I'll come too." But Caleb stopped her. "I know you don't know what you are doing." He said in a low voice, "but you cannot wait too long. Even if Phobos does not kill his sister the mere fact that he has her is troubling."

"Don't you think I know that?" Will hissed, her eyes darted to Taranee and Irma, who were watching intently.

He ignored her. "It is also interesting that he went through all of this trouble to distract you." He seemed to be thinking out loud.

"Caleb, _duh_," she had a few choice words for him, really she'd had them for months and they were inching out of her lips when he surprised her by saying, "You will never conquer your enemies if you do not believe you can." He turned and left, following Cornelia, which made sense, since he was probably the only one she would maim right now.

Will stared at her sneakers for a little while after that, until Irma cleared her throat and mentioned that the entire town was frozen. "Right, let's go."

* * *

Elyon woke up without remembering having fallen asleep. It was a strange feeling, the confusion mixed with panic that infiltrated her drugged mind while the darkness around her dissipated. She realized that she was on a bed – and not her own. The terror swiftly overtook everything else as she took in the massive wooden bed with its elaborate burgundy canopy. The silk sheets draped across her body matched the canopy, which matched the drapes that hung in front of long windows built into thick stone walls.

There were torches on the walls, and thick tapestries and furs covered every inch of stone.

She definitely wasn't in North Carolina anymore.

The last thing she remembered was being at school, with Mr. Ames. Her heart dropped, _did he bring her here_? Adrenaline circled through her limbs as she scrambled out of the bed. She was still in her school clothes … whoever had brought her here hadn't even bothered to take off her shoes. With trembling hands she fumbled in her pockets and pulled out her cell phone.

Dead.

The desire to run was strong. It was the only thing Elyon could feel besides the sensation of heat evacuating her limbs. She tried to swallow but found that her mouth was dry. She didn't know what to do. So Elyon crawled under the bed.

The little blonde might have shivered there for the entire night, but eventually, someone else entered the room. From her vantage point, among the dust balls and cooing insects, she saw two pairs of feet come in.

The voices she heard were crystal clear, but she only recognized one. "S-She was-s right here s-s-ire."

"Cedric, I haven't the time!" The accent was strange, the voice was weak – but Elyon couldn't fear the voice. Something, _something_, in it was familiar.

"No … wait my Lord." It took four steps and before Elyon could react, she was pulled from her hiding place (collar first) by Mr. Ames.

Tears were streaming down her face by now, and she couldn't stop herself from trembling. "L-Let m-me g-go." Her stammer had worsened considerably. She shut her eyes as tight as she could and sobbed.

"There is no need to fear us child." It was the second speaker's voice. It had a strange effect on her, and slowly, she stopped crying. "That's better."

One eye eased open, and she watched the two men, both handsome, immaculate and blonde. "W-Why d-did y-y-ou b-bring m-me h-he … h-here."

"This is where you belong child." Mr. Ames released his grip on her collar, although he didn't move too far away, as though he was still unconvinced that she would run. He needn't have worried. She was too transfixed by the handsome blonde man in front of her. His crystal clear blue eyes and white blonde hair were just like hers.

"This is your home, Princess."

* * *

Despite having three pairs of eyes roaming the pages of at least four dozen books, it was Taranee and the internet chat that found an answer to the problem first. She walked into the basement, brandishing the pages of her research, much like she might have done if this were a Literature assignment.

"There are two options." She smirked, "the first is that he put something like a sleeping potion in the water supply or food and everyone ingested it and it fell asleep. Unlikely, so I crossed that one out. The second option is that he made a deal with an otherworldly entity."

"What kind of entity?" Irma asked.

"Like the God of dreams, Morpheus. That's my guess."

"Great." Will frowned, "are you sure it wasn't something else?"

"It's either the potion or you need to bribe Morpheus, as far as I can tell." She leaned against the wall. "Have you ever summoned a God before?" This question was directed towards Hay Lin.

"My Grandmother did … once." The Asian girl moved over to the bookshelf and plucked a tiny brown book from among the other tomes. "It was hard though. You had to do a chant and make some symbols in the ground and she did a sacrifice."

"I really miss the days when all I had to do after school was my nails." Irma grumbled.

"Well we're in a restaurant so the dead animals will be easy." Will slammed the text she'd been searching close. "We'd better get to the cemetery then. That's where your grandma usually does her voodoo right?"

"It's not voodoo." Hay Lin said, but admitted that they should head to the graveyard.

"Irma, get Cornelia and Caleb. We've got to hurry."

* * *

"This isn't going to work." Cornelia obviously moody, sat with her arms folded on a nearby tombstone, frowning. It was late into the night and the moon was already halfway into the sky. Irma (who was already pissed that Cornelia was the only one who hadn't helped drag the cauldron or the pounds of ingredients across town) had to be physically restrained by Will from jumping over and strangling the blonde.

Taranee and Hay Lin were in deep discussions about the seal they had drawn on the rigid dirt floor. Apparently, Taranee thought one of the loops wasn't loopy enough or something.

Caleb had been put in charge of the sacrifice, which was really only chicken feet, beef quarters and vegetable stock thrown together in a bucket. He'd already asked if he could have it for the rebel children when they were finished.

Finally, when all the loops were looped and the "sacrifice" was deemed acceptable, Hay Lin began the chant.

"I conjure Thee, O Ancestor of the Gods! I summon Thee, Creature of Darkness, by the Works of Darkness!"

Cornelia snorted, "for God's sake!"

"Shut up Corndog!" Irma snapped, "Don't we need to hold hands?"

Hay Lin stopped. "Yeah, maybe that would help." And they formed a circle, which Cornelia only joined when Caleb offered her his hand. Then, the chant began again. "I conjure Thee, O Ancestor of the Gods! I summon Thee, Creature of Darkness, by the Works of Darkness!"

That was all they heard, all they knew, before the ground fell away beneath them, and they tumbled into darkness.

* * *

**Author:** I'm back. This chapter I'm very excited about, so much so that I rewrote this about three times before I was satisfied. Admittedly, I've been a little distracted, I got a new kitten and I discovered the Hunger Games trilogy. The next section is the real action. I was gonna do a little more here, but I think the sequence will be better if done in the next part.

Without giving too much away, basically, the girls will be tormented by their worst nightmares. Hmm, wonder what that could be. Reviews are always welcome. Thanks for reading!


	20. I is for Illusion Part 2

**La Dolce Vita**

By Seniya

**I** is for **Illusions**

Part 2

_Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live._

* * *

Mark Twain

The room was dark.

It was pitch black and void of even the very notion of light and sound. There was no way to decipher shapes or size or where or when in this place, and that was when Caleb started to panic.

He knew himself to be crumpled on the floor of this dark place, hearing nothing, seeing even less than that. His breath began to slip out through his nostrils in harsh, rapid puffs and his hands slipped along the cold floor, seeking familiarity.

There was none.

He remembered falling, plummeting from the Earth burial ground - and that was all. Nothing else, and then here.

He tried to stand, but the darkness seemed too heavy. Caleb had no voice, nothing to scream in any case. Was he alone? He felt alone. Were the others dead? Wide, cinnamon eyes flashed through his mind for a second and suddenly, Caleb found the strength to stand.

It was then that he noticed it. It must have just appeared, because he knew he would have noticed his own reflection, hanging sweaty and still from an ornate, gold rimmed mirror. There was light now, a sliver at least an inch long behind the heavy frame that did enough to illuminate the hollows and curves on his face and body.

He stared at the beast in the mirror for a long while, coming to terms with the feeling of nausea that touched him when those blood red eyes stared back at him.

The reflection grinned, cruel as it mocked him and his heart thudded faster. Caleb took in the waves of long, brown fur and then he closed his eyes.

One. Two.

And then it was gone.

* * *

And so was he. At last, the room had dissipated, leaving him now, drenched in sweat in a patchy lawn outside of a run down apartment building in the middle of the angry afternoon sun, where a tiny red haired girl played (by herself) in a corner of the yard, beside a neglected rose bush.

He knew it was Will before she turned around. The red hair, alabaster skin and tiny limbs were unmistakeable, even as he realised that this Will had to be at least ten Earth years younger than the one he knew. Had he fallen into the past? Still, that couldn't explain the dark room he'd just emerged from. This breed of magic was indeed strange - and was he the only one affected? That couldn't be. This vision was clearly distinct to Will, she had to be around here.

He was snatched out of his reverie by a series of loud shouts from the other side of the street. For the first time he noticed a gaggle of human girls with dead-eyed dolls clutched in their chubby fists giggling loudly from across the street, ignoring the girl in the rose bush.

Could they see him?

It wasn't likely. No one spared a glance at the burly stranger in the dark shirt, dripping sweat in the semi-deserted garden. Little Will saw them though, from her vantage point behind the roses. Her large brown eyes would dart between the branches every few moments, as if trying to ensure that they were still there.

She wasn't dressed like the other girls, who were wearing a rainbow of colourful dresses with polka dots and flowers and ribbons. The red head was in shorts, a t-shirt and barefooted. She was dusty and clutched a stick in her tiny hand.

This child was the Will he knew. Without a doubt. If there were any (doubts) those vanished when the regular Will stomped up beside him.

"What are you doing here?" She was frowning deeply, as usual, and her sword was clutched in her hand. Caleb, naturally, frowned back. "I did not come here by my own doing. I just ... appeared."

She considered this before accepting that it must be the truth. "Yeah," she mumbled, "I just appeared too."

She had shed her heavy jacket and thick sweater because of the heat, and was now wearing a simple white camisole and her jeans. Her short red hair had curled slightly in the humidity, the crimson strands stuck to her nape and to the slope of her shoulder where they mingled with sweat. It troubled him that he noticed anything so subtle. It further annoyed him that his hand itched to brush those strands away.

"Do you know this place?" Caleb asked, clearing his throat in an effort to regain his control. Will hesitated before nodding slightly. He looked at her watching the little red headed girl, who was poking holes in the dusty earth with her stick. "This is Austin, where I grew up."

The peace of the afternoon was disrupted when a lanky redheaded man sauntered into the garden, stirring clouds of dust as he moved. "Hellooo," he slurred to the child, who shrank further into her bushes. From across the street, Caleb heard the giggles from the girls grow louder. Beside him, Will stiffened considerably.

"I've tried to use the sword to get out but I can't. My powers aren't working." She spoke in a loud, clear voice, as if to distract from what they were seeing.

"Ma!" As if to foil her efforts, the man spoke louder as well. "I'm hooommeee!"

An older lady, with her faded silver hair almost hidden by massive purple curlers rushed from the bottom floor of the apartment. She was in an expensive looking dress, and her face was covered in those fancy paints that Cornelia and Irma always used (although to much better effect). "What is it Tom?" She hissed in a drawl similar to the easy way Will spoke. "My stories are on!"

"Ma, I need a couple hundred dollars. Tell me ya got it. These guys are crowding my ass for their money."

"Where am I supposed to get that kinda money boy?" She hissed, her brown eyes flickered to where little Will stayed curled into her spot, clearly trying to decide if she could hear.

The tiny shoulders didn't move, but the hands were frozen on the stick and Caleb knew by the way Will was fidgeting by his side, that she had heard every word.

"Didn't her mother send anything for her this week?"

"Aw, Jesus, Tom! You can't keep taking the kid's money. She needs it for ..."

"For what?" He snapped, and the sentence echoed through the quiet afternoon, "What she damn well need but crayons and Barbie dolls?"

"Tom! Keep your voice down! You're drunk!" But he'd already shoved past the old woman, and rushed into the sliding glass door at the back. He was gone for a mere minute, returning to the porch moments later, while shoving something into his pocket and then brushing a noisy kiss against his mother's rouged face.

Then, he was gone the way he'd come, this time walking only an inch in front of Will and Caleb. Will was holding her breath, Caleb noted, the tension around her was that tangible. He'd walked right out of the gate without a backward glance before turning around suddenly, "Bye, Princesssss." He cooed at the child and then continued on his way.

The little girl with the messy red hair watched with brown eyes that were much too old to be in such an angelic face and finally mumbled, "Bye Daddy."

The scene faded to black and Caleb thought he heard a spattering of applause. Will, who had been staring at her feet said, "I don't want to talk about it."

He had been planning to ask her if this was a memory or a dream, but from the whiteness in her knuckles clutching her sword - it was more than obvious.

His chest ached for the little girl. Both of them. The urge to touch her began anew, and this time, he let it win. He dropped a heavy hand against her shoulder, and to his surprise, she let him.

* * *

Hay Lin stayed crouched behind the heavy ivory drapes for a long time. Her knees, which were always knobbly and tough, were curled up to her chest and stabbed her chin unrelentingly.

Still, she didn't dare move. Her hiding spot smelled of mothballs and Lysol, a heinous combination at the best of times - absolutely sickening in the worst.

She was in the funeral parlour - the one three streets away from her house where they'd had her Great-Uncle's memorial a few years back. She hated it then, with its white and gold furnishings and tidy beige walls. It was immaculate, from ceiling to floors to caskets. And it was terrifying now that her Nana was only a few feet away in a dark mahogany box.

The only sound she could hear was her own racing heart, going crazy in her chest. There was a cold layer of sweat on her upper lip that was slightly distracting but nothing was worse than the freezing terror moving through her spine.

She would have stayed there indefinitely, if Taranee hadn't eventually invaded her space and pulled the drapes away with a single, sharp movement.

The black girl was covered in sweat and gasping for air as though she'd been running for miles. Her glasses were askew on her nose, and her messy, curly braids were scattered all around her face. "You're the only one here?" She snapped, and HayLin nodded before mumbling, "New girl?"

"Taranee," she corrected, and then pointed to her Nana, still belly up in her coffin. "This is only a nightmare for you, for most of us, it's like Mardi Gras."

"Don't say that!" The smaller girl howled through tears, "she's all I have."

"You do realise this is a dream right?" Her voice had taken on its usual 'I know everything' vibe, actually Hay Lin found the bossiness comforting. "I ... Kinda ... But it's still scary."

Taranee sighed, "We have to find whoever is doing this. If I could find you, I don't see why I can't find them."

Hay Lin nodded but kept her eyes trained on the ground. "What was your nightmare?"

It took Taranee a long time to answer. She was used to working on her own terms. Despite initial appearances, the Oracle wasn't a terrible taskmaster. She was given a lot of free range. It was only when she was truly convinced of the innocence of the question that she whispered, "Spiders."

Hay Lin giggled, "Seriously? Bugs?"

Taranee's lips twitched in annoyance. "When I was younger, on my family's vacation to some ruins in the Amazon ... I fell into a Tarantula nest. They were all over me."

"Oh ... Sorrry ..." Hay Lin offered a small smile. "Well, you know I used to be afraid of chickens. Only because we've killed so many at the restaurant ... Their cousins must be out for revenge."

Taranee didn't look for the logic in the sentence. Instead she pointed her chin towards the door. "If this is Mr. George's place, this door should lead us onto Hale Avenue, right?"

"Yeah ... Well, in real life but ..."

"But we can control our own dreams can't we?"

Hay Lin had a few more questions but a sudden thump against the coffin stopped the conversation. Both she and Taranee turned in time to see her grandmother, climbing jerkily from the wooden box. "Nana - I knew they couldn't keep you ... "

It wasn't her. If the milky white eyes and the slack jawed face hadn't proven it, then the dozens of spiders creeping from her ears may have been an indication.

Hay Lin screamed, only to realise that Taranee had already turned around and sprinted towards the door. She followed suit, racing into the white hot light as her Nana spewed arachnids in her wake.

* * *

"I just ... Why won't this work!" Will tossed her sword onto the lush green garden outside of a massive brick school house. Caleb was immersed in the tell tale signs of spring, a symphony of soft, sweet smells were thick and heavy around him. It was too difficult to enjoy though, after having watched an even smaller Will get into an ill fated fist fight with four larger girls. The little shadow was now sobbing brokenly in the corner near a water fountain, where she was cleaning a cut on her cheek.

This was the fourth such vision they had seen. They were all fairly similar. Little Will would be yelled at by someone, she would fight, lose, and then she would cry.

Will grew steadily more irate as they flashed before her eyes. She'd stabbed a miserable school teacher with her sword in the last sequence, and had been notably put out when it hadn't stopped the scenes from coming. Even as she ranted on the periphery of the playground, the images around them stilled, faded to black and then changed.

"Great!" Will yelled, "Now what?" She wasn't to remain confused for long however, as in the next second she and Caleb found themselves on a hazy summer evening on the sidewalk in front of a large store with a variety of pets in the store widows.

"Oh, no," Will covered her face with her hands. "Not this one!"

Caleb was intrigued by her reaction, "why, what happens now?" Will jumped suddenly, as though she'd forgotten he was here. "N-Nothing … it is … I mean …" she sighed, "this is last summer. I worked here for a couple of months for like, a part time job."

He didn't quite get it, but Caleb nodded anyway.

"Anyway … there was this … guy …"

As if on cue, another Will, this time in a tiny skirt, a clingy halter top and her long red hair in a pretty ponytail, darted outside of the store. She was giggling in the most out-of-character way Caleb could imagine. "That's you?" He mumbled, while Will just shrugged. The figure was joined only moments after by a tall boy.

He seemed much older than her, and acted like it too. He was dressed in too tight jeans, a heavy jacket and boots with a stupid looking hat on his dark, wavy hair.

Will was all over him. The redhead clutched at his arms until he draped his arms around her waist. "I think, little lady, that we have every right to close shop early for the night." He drawled in a voice that made Caleb's stomach turn.

"I believe you might be right, Mr. Olsen." She giggled again and then boldly plucked his cowboy hat off of his head. He grinned before lowering his head and meeting her lips.

The real Will rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath but Caleb was livid. "Why is he taking advantage of you like that? Who gave him the right to take those liberties?"

"Are you frigging serious? This is first base." Her face had reddened considerably however, and Caleb could tell she was uncomfortable. It got worse when the couple, still locked in an embrace and stumbling all over each other, managed to make their way into the backseat of a nearby car.

"I really don't get the purpose of showing me this one."

"What were you two doing in there?"

"Get over it Dad," She was trying to brush it off, to pretend like it didn't matter, but she couldn't. "He said me he loved me. Said I was the most beautiful girl in the world. I shouldda caught on." Will rolled her eyes, but sounded sad. "And then he left Austin the next week and I never heard from him again." She made a sound between a laugh and a sob, "I'm not the first girl to get lied to, Caleb. And I was definitely not the first by Matt Olsen."

He was quiet then, not really understanding everything she had said but knowing that she was hurting. Caleb cleared his throat. "He … He didn't deserve you."

This time she did laugh. "You probably don't even get how cliché that is."

Caleb frowned, "I'm serious Will. You …"

The scene vanished before he could finish. This time, they hadn't re-appeared in Austin at all, but in a perfectly white room, covered in mirrors. It was a replica of the prison Will had visited only months ago – when she'd seen Nerissa. Already terrified by the prospect of meeting her predecessor again, Will clutched her sword closer to her side and edged nearer to Caleb, who hadn't moved.

He was absolutely transfixed by something he'd seen on one of the walls. Will, who'd noticed his gaze, tried to follow it but found nothing out of the ordinary. "Caleb!" She tugged at his arm to get his attention, her heart was racing now and she knew Nerissa was probably nearby. "Caleb! Look at me!"

The brunette was still gazing intently at the mirror, and Will squinted towards the corner, trying to make out what had held his attention so easily. It was just a reflection, just the two of them, side by side – until it wasn't anymore. All of a sudden, there was a massive – dog-like thing standing beside Will in the reflection. Startled, she released Caleb's arm and jumped away.

The creature was at least eight feet tall and covered in waves of dark fur. It stood on its hind legs, which only highlighted its massive torso, terrify claws and foot long teeth. It didn't move though, just stared back at her with those hauntingly green eyes.

"C-Caleb … what is …"

Maybe it was the fear in her eyes, but something pulled him out of his spell. "That's ... me."

* * *

**Author:** So I was so hyped about this chapter until the worst month ever happened. First my Grandmother passed away and put me into a funk for a few days, later on my laptop literally broke, as in it broke in two. Then, one of my co-workers quit and I was swamped with her duties until they re-hired.

I actually wrote about half of this on my blackberry. Sigh. I didn't want to do it this way, but I will have to make a part 3 for this Chapter. Thanks for the ongoing support guys, I do appreciate it.


	21. I is for Illusion Part 3

La Dolce Vita

By Seniya

I is for Illusion

Part Three

"A poor man with nothing in his belly needs hope, illusion, more than bread."

Georges Bernanos

* * *

Cornelia was having a panic attack. She'd never had one before, of course. Cornelia the control freak would never allow herself to display such an unsophisticated emotion as panic – but in this case, the temporary shift in face was warranted.

She was standing in the dressing room of Martindale's, a fancy upscale boutique she'd had visited in the summer in California, that was decorated with tasteful furniture, rose white walls, fluffy beige carpet and tiny, overpriced clothing.

"Why won't it fit?" thin, shallow breaths grazed her chapped lips even as lines of sweat ran along her clammy face onto her neck. Thick fingers tugged at the back of a fantastic sequined dress (she recognised it as the one she intended to buy for the Homecoming Dance next month) but with no results. The beautiful, shiny Zac Posen was a stubborn bitch, and wouldn't yield even the slightest inch.

Suddenly, the tasteful, colourless dressing area became as suffocating as a hangman's noose. "Why won't it fit?" Wide blue eyes, for the first time glanced upwards to one of the many gilded mirrors (all hung in a vaguely feng shui style) across from her – and the panic attack worsened.

She was fat, as in massively obese, two cheeseburgers away from death, fat. Her usual, strawberries and crème complexion was marred by hideous pink bumps all over her face and neck, and her long, satiny blonde hair hung limply around her now chubby face and – Jesus Christ – were those stretch marks on her arms?

The first blood curdling scream that left her lips was the mere tip of the iceberg of desperation she felt, but still that was enough to rattle the mirrors and send any remaining calm scampering into the wilderness. She waddled uncomfortably into the waiting room (with her dress still stuck around her thighs) and to her surprise, Elyon was seated comfortably on one of the chaise lounges, with her legs curled under her – Indian style.

"Elyon!" Cornelia gasped, "You're ok?"

Temporarily, the sight of her massive frame faded into one of the back carriages of her train of thought. The sense of relief she felt seeing her best friend, safe and sound was like a rush of icy cold satisfaction– at least until Elyon looked at her. The small blonde's eyes were both swollen shut and discoloured terribly, all black, purples and blues. Her tiny nose looked as though it had been smashed and her lips were split and gushing blood.

"Elyon!" Cornelia started to move forward, but Elyon's hiss stilled her in her tracks –"This is your fault! Your fault you bitch!"

Seeing her friend like this hurt her more than she could explain, her heart broke, sending shards of the tender organ spiralling along through ice cold veins. "E-Elyon … I didn't! I tried to go looking for you … I really did. I had no idea he wanted you …"

"You knew all this time! You knew he was coming after me!" The small girl rose to shaky, battered legs and faced Cornelia with unmistakeable ire. "You just didn't care! You don't care about anything but yourself!" Elyon lunged towards her, her small fists clenched like weapons of the mildest variety – it mattered not how weak the blows felt against her own skin, having her best friend railing against her was the most potent blow of all.

Cornelia staggered backwards, her forearms raised to protect herself against the ceaseless assault, but she tripped a short time afterwards over the too tight dress, which was still dangling from her legs.

Elyon seem poised to strike, her dull blue eyes seemed to shine with malice and Cornelia closed her eyes - then heard the door of the boutique open and close. There was the certain thud of hurried footfalls and then, nothing.

Cornelia opened her eyes to see Irma (not obese) crouching by her side. Elyon had disappeared. "Irma," she gasped stupidly, "how'd you get here? Do you know where we are?"

Irma opened her mouth to respond, but no sound came forth. However, undaunted, she began an obviously animated tale, filled with sudden movements of her eyebrows and rapid gestations.

"Wait, you can't speak?"

Irma heaved a silent sigh but shook her head to indicate that she was, indeed, mute. Cornelia grinned, her horrors temporarily forgotten, "Thank God."

To this, Irma grabbed a large portion of Cornelia's stomach fat and pulled, she then burst out into soundless guffaws that weren't any less cruel because you couldn't hear them.

"Look, shut up. We've got to find the others."

Irma nodded and helped Cornelia to stand (rather, she rolled her upright) and the two started towards the door. Cornelia paused to peel her tattered Zac Pose from her legs, "do you know where we are Irma?"

Irma too stilled, looked thoughtful and then clasped her hands together at her shoulder and rested her head on top of them. "You think we're asleep?"

The brunette nodded.

"So this is like a dream?" But looking at her discarded dress, her extra 300 pounds of body fat and remembering the attack from Elyon, she whispered, "more like a nightmare."

* * *

Hay Lin and Taranee, who had just finished scaling the roof of City Hall (the tallest building they could find), couldn't have agreed more. They'd spent the last half an hour (or so they imagined, since time didn't make sense here) running from a Yan Lin that spewed arachnids like a gyser. What they had thought was Heatherfield, was clearly not. It was simply a place that resembled their hometown but everything was off kilter. The Bakery, which had always been next to the shoe store, had somehow ended up next to the Elementary School.

The Baptist Church had miraculously moved to sit right in the middle of Hale Pond and the streets were endless and circular, going everywhere and no where all at the same time.

"I-I can't run anymore." Taranee gasped, she was bent over, hands on her knees, exhausted. "Seriously can't. I need to wake up right now."

Hay Lin, who was equally tired, edged towards the end of the roof and peered over, "Nana's coming," she announced, her sweaty and pale face filled with terror. "What do you think she'll do when she catches us?"

"That's not your grandmother!" Taranee snapped, "It is just an illusion. This is a dream. The only thing we need to figure out is how to wake up!"

Hay Lin fell silent, biting her lip, and still staring at the space over the roof's edge. "We could jump." She said suddenly, and Taranee stopped struggling for breath long enough to ask, "What?"

"It's like Inception right?"

Taranee rolled her eyes but didn't contradict the idea.

"A dream within a dream within something. If we jump, we'll wake up. Like a kick."

Taranee was desperate enough to try. That, combined with the echoing wails of a grandmother who was pretty obviously scaling the brick walls in hot pursuit was enough to push her to the breaking point. "All right let's try it."

She walked over to the periphery, shaking inwardly despite her outward nonchalance. Taranee was also afraid of heights.

Hay Lin followed in silence, she was the Guardian of Air and doubtlessly, she was less terrified. "On three?" She suggested and Taranee nodded stiffly, secretly overjoyed when Hay Lin pushed her fingers within her palm.

"One, two, three!" There was the rush of air, the clear power of gravity, a dash of vertigo as they dropped three stories, and then – nothing.

* * *

"What the hell do you mean that thing is you?" Will snapped. The image in the mirror had long since vanished but the redhead was certain it would be ingrained in her thoughts forever.

Caleb, after his initial startled revelation had clammed up, and was now annoyed that Will was being like all other women and prying into his personal affairs. "It is none of your concern."

"The hell it isn't!" He turned away from her, moving with rapid, certain steps towards the other side of the crystalline room. "Caleb! Are you a werewolf or something?"

A few months ago, the question would have seemed ridiculous. However, given all she'd seen today (not to mention since August) Will wasn't designed to be a sceptic. "I said," He turned on her suddenly, using his height and bulk to intimidate her, "it is none of your concern. No harm will come to you or your friends. That is all you need to know."

"I'm tired of you being like this! You're always keeping secrets from me. You didn't tell me about Phobos or Elyon or anything! What else are you hiding, huh?" Will stopped, dead in her tracks as her eyes glimpsed a dark figure in the glass before her. She recognised the dark hair, olive skin and the cold, dead eyes. Of course, this image, standing where her reflection ought to be was considerably younger than the woman she knew, but it was still clearly her.

"Nerissa," Will whispered, while her mid whispered over and over again, _I'm not her, I'm not her_.

Now, it was Caleb's turn to look confused, "Your words have again ceased making sense."

There was a resounding crack that echoed downwards from the ceiling and then, twin screams echoing into the vast space. Will tore her eyes away from the image of her predecessor long enough to see Taranee and Hay Lin hurtling towards the ground.

They landed with a sickening thud, and forgetting Caleb's dog like secret as well as her own dark haired curse, Will ran as fast as she could on the smooth glass floor towards her team mates.

They were both all right, Hay Li even jumped to her feet before Will got to her side. The Asian touched the side of her face tenderly before she saw the two figures pelting towards her. "Will! Caleb!" She beamed, "Oh my gosh! I'm so glad to see you guys. We had the weirdest day."

Taranee was a lot slower to stand, although she refused Caleb's help when he offered it. She really had no time for the trivialities that Hay Lin was sure to burst forth with at any second. "This is a dream. Obviously the spell to summon Morpheus went terribly wrong."

Hay Lin nodded, "it was probably the chicken feet. That was their third go in a spell. I knew they were a little bit off."

Taranee grumbled something incoherent and finally stood. When she spoke she looked directly at Will. "We have to wake up."

"I've been doing everything I can think of. My powers aren't working – the sword is completely dead and I … we keep shifting around."

"Really?" Brown eyes brimming with excitement, Hay Lin asked, "What kinds of stuff did you see?"

Will made certain to answer before Caleb could, "Nothing special, just some stuff from when I was a kid."

"Regardless, this is a distraction. I believe it may not have been the spell we used, Taranee." Caleb explained, "Cedric is not known for his magic but he is known for his tricks. He could have planned this with Morpheus, knowing that we would try to contact him – "

"Bravo." There was now a fifth voice, startling in its masculinity, terrifying in its sweetness. The glass panels around them had started to melt, pooling on the deep, colourless floor like puddles of molten diamonds. The scattered applause Will had heard from the first second she arrived in this place intensified until it rose into an undeniable roar.

Beside her, Hay Lin plugged her fingers into her ears, "what's that?"

The answer arrived shortly after in the form of a lanky young man. He was seated in a throne made of flowers – poppies – Will noticed, and the smell coming from them was all consuming. On his shoulder was perched an owl, a dark evil looking thing which did not move, even when its master did.

"Are you Morpheus?" Taranee, feeling bold, asked. His deep purple eyes scanned her face and then a slow smile caressed his boyish features. "That is my name."

"You have no right to keep us here! You also have no right to have interfered in the human world! Why are those people asleep?"

"Calm down Fire," he was still smiling, "it was all just a little fun."

"There is no fun here!" Hay Lin and Will exchanged a look, why did Taranee know so much? "The Oracle would have your head if he –"

"There's no need to run and tell Daddy Oracle about me, Fire." He snapped his fingers and Cornelia and Irma appeared at his side. "Look, here's a peace offering." Cornelia had shed the extra weight and Irma could now speak. They were (as much as they could be) normal.

"I can talk!" The brunette squealed, practically skipping as Cornelia ran her hands all over her face ad body, ensuring that she was still a size 2.

"That is not enough. You know the rules! Whatever deal you have made with Cedric –"

"Cedric?" Morpheus' face fell, "you do me an injustice Fire. I do not work with such vermin. I saw an opportunity and it took it."

"But you _can't_!"

"But I did!" He grinned even wider and for the first time, the bird on his shoulder shook. "I grow tired of this talk. I want to play some more. And so does my pet." He curled a finger beneath the creature's beak, and to Will's horror it smiled, revealing razor sharp teeth.

"Go, Hepatica, play." On that order, the bird spread its wings, soared into the pitch black around them and swooped down on the powerless guardians. Somehow, in the ten metres separating the group from the God of Dreams, the bird had multiplied in size to a creature roughly with the wingspan of a small jet.

It looked at the group with its dark, soulless eyes and swooped low, readying its beak for the taste of its prey.

"Will!" Cornelia shrieked, "Use the sword! Transform us!"

But she couldn't. The sword was as useless as a rock in her shaking arms.

The bird was circling them, binding his time as though he knew he had plenty of it. The powerful gusts of wind that rushed down to the floor from his flapping wings easily forced them all to their knees. Even as the last bit of hope faded from her heart, Will pleaded with the Blade to listen to her, to come to life with blinding white energy and save them.

She almost thought it had worked when there was an answering flash of light at the end of her final prayer. However, it had not come from the sword, but from a woman – with long blonde hair and clothed in blindly white robes.

"Halior!" Taranee yelled, but the blonde woman urged her to be quiet. It took a few moments for Will to realise it, but the bird was gone – rather, it had returned to its normal size and lay unflinching in a corner of the dark room.

"Morpheus." She spoke in a voice that reminded Will of ice. Cold, hard and precise. "You have some explaining to do."

And before Will could think about what had just happened, they were back in the basement of the Silver Dragon, with Toad eagerly weaving through their legs and Yan Lin staring disapprovingly at them.

* * *

"Nana! You're back!" Hay Lin cooed before she literally bounced over to her matriarch and wrapped her arms about her waist. "I was so worried."

"Who told you it was all right to summon Gods?" The old woman hissed. The nap had done nothing to improve her mood.

Hay Lin's face fell, "Sorry Nana, but everyone was asleep – we didn't know what to do."

She obviously didn't either, so she just made a grouchy sound deep in her throat and folded her arms across her chest. "The spell wore off a little while ago. I realised what you imbeciles had done so I had to do something I didn't want to do."

"Smile?" whispered Irma, but Yan Lin didn't hear.

"I had to ask the Oracle for help." She deadpanned, making it seem as though she'd gone through four root canals and a triple bypass.

"Taranee isn't here." Will said, and it was true. "Did she get left down –"

"No." Mrs. Lin said, "She is with her teacher, probably getting a lesson on how to intimidate a God."

"Wait, wait, am I the only one out of the loop here?" Irma moved onto a stool, "who was that woman just now? Was she the Oracle?"

"No, she works for the Oracle. Kinda," Yan Lin obviously didn't want to talk about this; she'd turned her back on them and was re-arranging ingredients in her cupboards. "Her name is Halinor. She was once the Guardian of Fire."

"And she teaches Taranee?" Cornelia pried, looking ruffled, confused and terrifyingly vulnerable.

"I … I am not entirely sure what the Oracle has planed for the Guardian of Fire, but I was told that she could not be a part of our team. I assume they're training her themselves."

"Why?" Caleb, who liked to omit himself from guardian business, felt obliged to ask. "The Guardians are stronger as a team."

Yan Lin finally snapped, "What is this? The Chinese inquisition? I was kicked out of Kandrakar remember? If you want answers you can't get them from me!"

"Wait – hold up. Does this mean that Elyon is back? Did Phobos really take her?" A flicker of hope crossed Cornelia's face and despite how much Will tended to dislike the blonde, she hoped, for her sake, that her friend was okay.

"Who's Elyon?" Yan Lin asked, but Cornelia had already bounded upstairs for her cellular phone. Her calls would be futile however, because her best friend was nowhere near that side of the veil.

* * *

The initial sensation of marvel and disbelief had still not faded from Elyon's mind even after the first few hours of wandering around the massive castle. Her brother, yes brother, the _Prince_ Phobos, was terribly patient with her, answering all of her questions and handing her explanations about a life she had never even dreamed of.

"Earth, is a terrible place." They were in a stately old room, filled with books and paintings and artefacts. Phobos had just showed her their mother (her real mother, so different from the brutal drunk she'd known), the Queen Aphrodite – the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. "Humans are a horrible, war-like people who would jump at the chance to control Metamoor. The veil was created for our own safety, although sometimes, people find ways to travel between sides."

"I-I'm n-not human?"

"Of course not!" Phobos snorted, and the sound of his disgust was clear. "Humans are vile, weak manipulative things. They are the worst creates in this universe."

She thought about that for a moment, and then asked, "A-And they took me?"

He nodded solemnly, his blue-grey eyes, so similar to hers, were suddenly cloudy. "Our mother fought to keep you, I remember it. But they wanted to leave our land without a proper ruler so that we would die off."

He'd stopped and rested his thin, white hands on her shoulders, "you see, I am unwell, Princess and my time here is very short."

Although she'd just known this man for less than a moment, she felt unashamedly connected to him. A brother, a real brother. Her heart ached for him. She could see the signs of sickness under his eyes and in the tight, drawn lines of strain across his body. "W-What is t-the m-matter with you?"

"All men in our family die young," and the glint of – something—was back in his eyes as he continued, "it is the women who are strong."

"I-I'm … s-sorry." And she was.

"Worry not child. It is more important that we prepare you to take my place." He pressed his hand against the small of her back, urging her deeper into the room. "I-I … d-don't k-know if I can." Elyon muttered, this was all so much, so fast – she didn't have the courage or the confidence to rule an entire world.

"Do not fear, my child. This is your destiny."

* * *

Deep in the bowels of the castle, Cedric slithered along with haste, his mind focused on the single task that his master had commanded of him this night. Phobos had been pleased that he now had his sister – and perhaps if Cedric could feel anything, he'd be satisfied that he'd done a good job.

But all he knew was what the master commanded and right now, his being strummed with the urgency to get to the castle's catacombs, and to deal with one particular prisoner.

Kya had once been the Prince's nurse. Apparently, she'd also somehow stolen the Princess and as a result, his master hated her. It did not matter anyway. He could scarcely fathom anything under this fog of bloodlust.

There was sobbing coming from her cell. It annoyed him slightly. He did not like the sound. In fact, if he really tried to think of it, he was already annoyed because the castle floor was cold and damp against his belly. And he was tired, yes, tired – and still upset that he'd been forced to be a human for so long.

"Have you come to kill me?" Her voice was weak ad pathetic, just as all voices are moments before they are extinguished. He had no reason to present a falsehood to her, "yes, I am."

The sobbing worsened, and then, she shoved her hands through the rusty metal bars. "I have something … very valuable." Indeed, there was … something, wrapped carefully in a dirty cloth ad held carefully in her fingers.

"What isss it?" Cedric asked.

Sensing an audience, Kya hurried on with an explanation. "The Star of Threbe. Just as you know it from the legend. It can take you anywhere you need to go."

"Clearly, it is useless-s-s" Cedric hissed, "or else why wouldn't you have us-s-ed it to take it yourself away from here?"

"It does not work for me – " Kya explained, her voice now with a desperate, pleading quality that Cedric hated. "But it has worked before. It belonged to the Prince Phobos and to his father. I have seen it work as well. It took me to Earth."

"Let me s-see it." Cedric snapped, and grabbed the ornate star from the woman's hands. It was cold in his claws, and he could see his reflection against its polished surface.

"I have kept it all these years. And it will be yours – as well as the secrets on its use, if you only let me go."

Cedric stayed silent for a moment, but really, it wasn't as though he had a choice. "I cannot disobey my master."

She screamed then as he unhinged the cell door and slithered inside the filthy room. Before she could mutter another plea, he swallowed her whole.

When he returned to the corridor, he heard another voice, this one from the cell across the hall. "Silly woman. You cannot bargain with an item someone cannot use."

He recognised the purr as the voice of the black witch Phobos had him capture months before. "What do you want, woman?"

"I think the question is, Cedric, what do you want?"

* * *

**Author**: Wow. This is the end result of a marathon two day writing spree. Ok, so, the Phobos saga ends at M, so the next few chapters may feel a bit rushed, but actually there isn't that much to cover. Epic final battle etc. and some clarification about what Phobos, Nerissa, the Gods and the underworld all have in common. All right thanks for the constant support my dears! Reviews are always appreciated. Next is J is for Jealousy.


	22. J is for Jealousy

**La Dolce Vita**

**By Seniya**

**J** is for **Jealousy**

Part 1

_Jealousy is the fear of comparison_.  
**Max Frisch**

* * *

Phobos had not hidden the fact that Kya was dead from his sister. He did, however, neglect to mention that he was at the root of her demise. Instead, he mumbled a sad story of how the poor thing hadn't survived the journey to Meridian. Elyon, never considering that her beloved brother was a liar, a fraud or a murder, believed the whole thing and spent a good few days mourning the loss of the demon she knew as mother.

Other than that mild injection of melancholy, Elyon's first few days in Meridian were incredibly exciting for her. For the first time in years, she had her own room, a closet with her own things, her very own bed – hell, the entire kingdom was hers if she really thought about it.

Elyon had girls to braid her hair in the morning, others to change her bath water and even more to dress her and bring her meals. Elyon had protested at first, but her brother had insisted, and not wanting to offend him, she'd relented.

Otherwise, she had taken to her new life remarkably quickly. It wasn't difficult to imagine, she'd never felt at home in Heatherfield – there'd always been that peculiar feeling of being an outsider. Well, now she knew why. Besides, being a princess wasn't anything of a disappointment.

Her most favourite thing in fact, was the lessons about her family which a tutor (hired especially by Phobos for the purpose) taught her every morning after she broke her fast. Elyon loved hearing about what a kind, loyal and noble King her father was. She gobbled up stories about her mother's tender heart and legendary looks, and of course, even better were the tales about her brother – a fairer ruler, Meridian had never known.

Sometimes, Phobos would even take her on trips around the villages surrounding the castle. She loved to see the smiling faces of her subjects, eager to reach up and grab her hands. Elyon found their sweet cottages quite charming, she loved watching as the small children played across the lush green fields under the bright sunlight.

Elyon knew within those first few days that she'd never be able to return to Earth, she was home. This was what had been missing all her life. The lost piece of the puzzle in her heart.

She never even suspected that it was all a lie.

* * *

"My Dad is such a hard ass," true to her routine, Irma had been waiting for Will as she exited her Physics class. The pair trudged along with the crowd of chattering teenagers towards the school's exit. It was Friday, and of course, there was a rush. Irma stuffed gum into her mouth as she spoke, "He questioned me about Elyon today –"

"He questioned the whole school, Irma." Will deadpanned.

"Yeah, but he made me call him 'sir'." She sighed, "I mean WTF?"

"All right, if you really start substituting letters for words, I'm gonna cut you off. Cold turkey." The girls stopped by the redhead's locker as she off loaded her books, Will ensured no one was listening before she whispered, "did you tell him anything?"

"Um, like what, yeah Dad-sir, she's in an alternate universe with her serial killer brother, who has magic powers. No Will, as you can see I haven't been institutionalised."

Will rolled her eyes and grabbed her jacket. It was early November, and there was definitely an early winter this year. The winds that had come in from the north were blisteringly cold already. Outside, clouds hung low and grey. "Caleb told me that she's still alive. He says Phobos has been taking really good care of her."

"What's that about?"

Will sighed as she shoved her arms into her heavy jacket, "maybe … he's just glad to have his sister back. Maybe he really missed her all this time."

Irma made an annoying noise with her tongue and the chewing gum, "you don't seriously believe that, do you?"

"No." The smaller girl admitted. "But I had to put it out there."

"What about Elyon's mom?" Irma asked, "Is she okay too?"

"Caleb … he didn't know. They aren't being kept together."

Now, it was Irma's time to sigh, "If Elyon was really taken then it makes sense that she's the one who stole her. I doubt Phobos was all 'live and let live' about it."

Their conversation ended abruptly when they saw Cornelia, standing painfully still in front of the tiny memorial the Hospitality Club had created for Elyon. It was the fourth memorial in as many months at the school but there was still no shortage of cards, stuffed animals and flowers. Cornelia's family had contributed the lion's share apparently, including a giant framed photograph surrounded by white roses.

"Have you talked to her?" Irma whispered, because it really seemed as though she might be able to hear them from across the hall. It was that quiet.

Will shook her head, "I tried," she mumbled, "she didn't want to talk to me."

"Is she frigging serious? What does she actually blame you?" The ounce of sympathy Irma had felt for the blonde dried up like puddle in July.

Will shrugged, grasping for an air of nonchalance, but failing. "I dunno, maybe."

"We didn't know! None of us knew," Irma popped her gum, "actually, if she wants someone to blame, she should blame her precious Caleb. He knew all along."

The defence rose to her lips before she could stop it. "He didn't. I mean … he didn't know it was Elyon." Irma's eyes shone with something that Will hated to see, so she changed the subject. "So, did they cancel Homecoming?"

"Hell no!" Momentarily distracted, Irma rattled on, "It would take the apocalypse for us to cancel a football game."

"It's freezing out."

"If they ain't dead, they'll be playing." She grinned then, "you gonna ask Caleb to be your date?"  
"What?" Will scoffed, "no. Which part of me looks like it wants to go to a dance? Tell me so I can cut it off."

"You have a vagina don't you?"

"Shut up."

Irma laughed, "Well, its tonight, so you better move fast or Cornflake might throw that sympathy card in and snatch him up."

"Irma, he's the leader of a rebellion, he doesn't have time for stupid High School dances. Hell, I don't even have time for stupid High School dances." Not that she wanted to go with Caleb. He'd probably brood and draw battle plans with the quiche. She didn't want to go period. Stupid dance, besides, it seemed so out of place to be out partying when she was supposed to be finding a way to get Elyon back.

"I make the time. I have four dates, and I'm working on a fifth."

"That's a great way to battle those slut rumours, by the way."

"Ha ha." Irma stuck out her fingers, "I have a dancing date, a date to get me snacks, one to tell me how pretty I am and one to make out with."

"Irma …"

"The fifth one is just for bragging rights."

"Glad you two are enjoying yourselves." The voice from behind them was so unbearably frigid that Irma actually jumped.

"Cornflake!" The brunette snapped, "Jesus Christ girl, you fixing to kill me?"

Cornelia, for once, ignored her. Her deep blue eyes were focused directly on Will. "When are we going to get Elyon back?"

Will gave a quick glance around the school's entrance before she whispered, "we can't talk about his here Cornelia."

"Why not?" But it wasn't really a question, it was a challenge.

"You know why not. I told you already, Elyon is safe."

"She's not safe until she is back here! You can't be seriously thinking about leaving her with that … monster!"

"What else are we supposed to do? We aren't ready. Caleb doesn't have the troops to spare and we …"

"No Will," Her voice was like needles, pricking the guilt into her skin with each syllable, "_you_ aren't ready. The only reason we aren't there right now is because everyone is trying to protect you and that stupid sword."

"Cornelia!" Irma hissed, "Shut the hell up!"

The blonde snorted and tugged the collar of her fuzzy white coat up to her chin. "I don't see what the fuss is about. As far as I can tell both you and that sword are frigging worthless."

Will felt her fingers clench and leap forward before she could even react. Before she knew what had happened, there was a crunch of bone on bone and then Cornelia shrieked. The blonde stumbled backwards, holding onto her nose which was rapidly leaking blood.

"You hit her?" Irma was smiling from ear to ear, although she did find it in her heart to go next to the wailing blonde and ensure that she was all right. The heat of rage Will had been feeling evaporated in a second. She hadn't meant to hit her – "Cornelia, I'm so …"

"Fuck you!" Cornelia yelled, before turning around and disappearing in the corridor.

There was a long bit of silence in which the angry wind became just that much more bitter and colder and scratched Will's exposed cheeks and hands. She could still feel the heat on her knuckles where'd they had touched Cornelia's face. Will would have been quite happy to stay there and consider her actions for the rest of the evening, but of course, Irma ruined the moment by bursting into an off key rendition of "Hero".

* * *

"This is absolutely unacceptable!" Elizabeth Hale, was upset that she'd been dragged away from her afternoon pedicure and possible Swedish massage by a phone call from her daughter's school. It was bad enough that both her daughters were now in public school because of her husband's inability to stop playing the slots but these consistent phone calls were a menace. The pricey boarding school they'd both been in for years would never have dared called a parent on a Friday afternoon. These classless backwater hill-billies however, had no such concerns.

She was so incensed by her half polished toes that she almost missed the fact that someone had sucker punched her first-born. Almost. "Who did this? I want the little snot expelled!"

The principal, Mrs. Knickerbocker had perpetual worry lines creased into her face and as a result, always looked rushed and a tad bit constipated. She had been a boxer once, and had quite a solid, stocky build for a woman. The exact tale of how she'd changed from Heavyweight Champion to education was a bit blurry, but it was clear that she did love her job, despite the challenges. Challenges like the parents.

"Do you know how much money we've give to this school? I want whoever is responsible kicked out! ASAP!" She probably would have gone on, if Cornelia's self-pitying moan hadn't drawn her out of her reverie. "Well have to see Dr. Hartman about this in the spring. If it doesn't come back in straight this could ruin her entire career. Well, it needed a little fixing anyway."

"Mrs. Hale," Mrs. Knickerbocker straightened in her chair and cleared her throat, "I assure you, the other girl involved is being punished. The nose isn't broken, the bleeding has already stopped, just put some ice on it and you can go."

Mrs. Hale was very upset. "Look, I want to see this beast that did this to my little girl! Is it that Lair child? She is endlessly jealous of my Cornelia and I …"

"We have arranged a meeting with both parents next week."

"Next week!"

"That's what I said, now if you don't mind," Mrs. Hale did mind, especially when the Principal held her by the shoulder and forced her out of the office. Elizabeth hustled to a nearby vending machine shoved in some change and retrieved a diet cola. She shoved that on her daughter's face and without looking back she stomped through the school hallway. "I cannot believe the audacity of that woman. When I get home I'm calling the superintendent!" She stopped suddenly, when she noticed a very notorious red jaguar leaving the school parking lot. It was a tacky car. This was something she'd spoken about length for many years – she knew that car and its equally tacky owner very well. Still, what was that Jezebel doing in the school parking lot?

Unless, "was it that horrible Susan DuPont's child that hit you?"

"What? It was Will Vandom. I don't know who her Mom is."

But Elizabeth did and she took it upon herself to enlighten her daughter about Mrs. DuPont's escapades and the little illegitimate child that had just popped up this September.

* * *

The ride home in the plush leather seats of her mother's car was quiet, as it always was when mother and daughter were closely confined. Will was surprised that her mother had come to pick her up, and even more surprised that she hadn't yelled – well, yet.

In fact, the first thing she said to Will had been in the kitchen, just as the youngster was trying to make a hasty retreat upstairs. "Homecoming is tonight, I hear."

That shocked her, "um, yeah... but you know, I don't care. I wasn't gonna go or anything."

"You should," Susan even offered a half smile. "I got my advance on the book this morning." Will watched as she walked over to the linen closet and took out a sturdy, black garment bag. "I got you this."

Will froze. She was accustomed to her mother buying her things. What stood out the most in her mind was a thousand dollar Prada jacket she'd been gifted at seven years old. Usually, it was because her mother had broken some promise, or felt guilty about something else.

"I don't want …"

"It's just a dress, Will. And you should go to your homecoming dance. Really, you should. You're only sixteen once."

It was more than a little strange that she hadn't been punished, and had even been given stuff after getting into a fight at school. Her mother was definitely guilty about something. Still, Will wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Um, yeah, OK. I'll go."

The smile that crossed her mother's face would have been heart-warming, if it hadn't been so damn suspicious.

* * *

Elyon watched solemnly as the second moon crossed the first and slowly began its decent behind the mountains of Lithor. She knew the view from her window quite well by now, she'd been keen to learn all the names of the places and the things that made up her new life. It wouldn't do for her subjects to think she was a stranger, after all.

The moon crossing took place every night. It signalled the end of the day, and the start of the next – sort of like midnight on Earth. It was something that had fascinated her the first few times she had seen it, but now, it only reminded her of how different this place was.

"What troubles you, my child?" Phobos had entered her chamber, as was accustomed. He would do so every night, to inquire of her happiness, lessons and her safety. Tonight, Elyon quickly confided, "I-I miss my f-friend."

"Friend?" Phobos' thin white brows tugged together in confusion. "What do you …"

"My friend, Cornelia. She …s-she lives on Earth. I-I … miss her a lot and she doesn't know where I am. S-She's probably really worried and I …"

"You want to see her."

Elyon's eyes widened at the possibility. "I … i-is that pos-s-ible?"

She was too overjoyed at the concept to notice the way her brother's eyes had darkened, too naïve to hear exactly how the edges of his words sharpened. "If it is what you wish, then I will do everything in my power to make it happen."

* * *

Naturally, it was Cedric who had to handle the finer points of figuring out exactly how to go to Earth and extract the girl. He brooded for hours in his dark dungeon room, taking little comfort for the ice cold dampness that tickled his exposed stomach as he lay on the floor. If he could be honest (he couldn't), he'd grown tired of these miserable orders. This foolishness and time wasting with his master's sister and the potions and all those Earth girls, while the riches of Meridian were being squandered by those peasants outside. When the rebels grew stronger with every passing day.

It wasn't his place to ever mutter these thoughts. He wasn't even certain why he could, even as the complaints dribbled through his mind there was a part of his heart that hissed in displeasure that he could even breathe life into such ideas. The Master is always right – always right – always –

But what if he wasn't? The Black Witch's words still rang in his mind. Could she really free him? He knew better than to trust her –

_Always right _–

* * *

Like all news from the palace, the plan to ambush the Earth and steal away yet another Earth girl had filtered into the rebel camp like rainwater through the city's streets. When the information came to Caleb during a meeting in his room, he would have discounted it as another one of the King's nuances had it not been for the utterance of one familiar name: Cornelia.

It was too valuable to leave to chance. He ignored the murmurs of discontent coming from within the rebels headquarters, whispers about the time he spent with the guardians, and about the fact that the girls were useless. Caleb couldn't blame the spark of malice, sadly he couldn't eradicate it either.

Still, that couldn't matter tonight. He slipped out of the rebel hideout with and into the canopy of darkness without a second thought. The Gods were with him this night, because there was a portal scant one hundred paces away from his lodgings.

The most peculiar thing about Earth was how bright it was. It could take him minutes before the white spots completely vanished from before his eyes and that was in the time they called "night".

Caleb was not so unfamiliar with Earth as before. He had learned the streets quite quickly, he'd even discovered a few short cuts over time. That troubled him. It it had been so easy for him, it must have been twice as easy for Cedric and his men. This entire world was so damn vulnerable.

Within minutes he'd arrived at HayLin's abode, intending to inform her grandmother of the news. He would not be held responsible for withholding information this time around. The rebel leader knocked a few times on the heavy wooden door, was greeted by a very formal looking Hay Lin, who took one look at him in his muddy dragon skin coat and dragged him into the basement before he could scare away the dinner customers.

"Cornelia is in danger," Caleb spoke frankly as he was accustomed and was put off by HayLin's nonchalance.

"What? Did you hear about her and Will's fight?"

That stunned him, "Will fought her?"

HayLin flicked on the downstairs lights and nodded eagerly (she rarely ever had gossip), "Yep, Irma said she got her right in the nose and there was blood and gore and everything. Cornelia is pissed."

Caleb couldn't follow. "Why would such a thing happen?"

"I dunno, Cornelia was mad about Elyon or something. Hey did you find out anything about her?"

The roundabout manner in which HayLin spoke finally had returned to a topic he could discuss. "Yes, there are rumours from the castle that Cedric plans to return to Earth to capture Cornelia. Elyon longs to see her and..."

"Tonight is Homecoming at their school." HayLin bit her lip to cover the jealousy, "you'll have to go over there or something because I've got to cover the dinner service or else Nana and my Mom will honestly freak. You can't wear that." She tugged at his coat.

Caleb blinked. Had she not heard him? Cornelia was in danger and she was complaining about his attire? "What do you..."

"Like no, there's a dress code. They won't let you a mile within the school looking so homely. I know … 'cause I tried last year. Hey, my Dad has some old tuxes upstairs. I'm sure at least the shirt and the pants can fit. And Will can take you, she doesn't have a date I think, but Irma has like seven."

"Hay Lin, slow your words. I do not follow ..."

"I'm gonna take you around the back way, through the kitchen, the health inspector gives us enough heat about this place already."

"Hay Lin! I do not have time for your dance! Tell Will to ready the others because Cedric is on his way and..."

"Tell her yourself, in your tux. Even Will could appreciate that. Seriously Caleb, five minutes."

He still wasn't certain how he was dragged through the staff entrance and into Hay Lin's standing bath, sprayed, groomed and dressed (admittedly in the five minutes which were promised) and then sent off to the school's auditorium. HayLin promised to call Will on their wireless communication device and to come over once the "night time rush" was over, but Caleb was still confused at what had transpired.

"Girls." He mumbled, which was as good an explanation as any. Still, in his burrowed garments (which were too thin or not sturdy in the least) he headed over to the School grounds, hoping that at least, Will would be sensible enough to recognise the danger.

* * *

Despite her swollen nose, puffy eyes and the fact that her date to the Homecoming dance was not the quarterback of the school's football team (he was a linebacker actually – gross) Cornelia Hale dabbed on extra concealer, whipped off her icepack and put on her Zac Posen dammit. She wasn't about to let Will Vandom know what she'd done to her! If she was photographed on her left side anyway, you could scarcely notice the swelling.

Her date, Michael … Something-or-the-other, was polite, sweet, southern and punctual. He hadn't dared asked about her swollen features and seemed genuinely happy to accompany her. And who wouldn't be? Even if she'd been attacked by a mountain of wasps, she'd still be the prettiest girl in school. She continued her mental pep-talk as Michael drove her the three blocks to the school, and might have kept it up, if he hadn't asked her about Elyon.

Now, her mood was foul.

Michael, like a true Southerner, might have slit his wrists because he'd upset her. He got her flowers, and opened doors and apologised, several times. There was a cold breeze out, it nipped at her shoulders so he gave her his jacket. Nope, still pissed. He got her extra punch when they were inside, and asked her very sweet questions about her interests and family and all that jazz. Still pissed. There'd be no helping her mood tonight, she decided. It was confirmed when Wilhelmina Vandom, with that atrocious mop of fire-engine red hair, sauntered into the auditorium wearing _her_ damn Zac Posen dress, with Caleb by her side.

* * *

The dress was stupid. Her hair was stupid. The heavy make up on her face was stupid and to make matters worse, all of her stupid classmates had now either heard about her fight with Cornelia and either hated her more or wanted to be her friend.

She'd only gone to placate her mother, who had been rather insistent that she show up and "cheer herself up". Whatever that meant. Apparently her mother thought her social life was even more dismal that she did. Actually, Susan was the one who'd brandished the curling iron and MAC brushes to make her offspring presentable. Will had to admit, she didn't look terrible – if she'd care about that stuff – never mind the fact that she was damn uncomfortable and self conscious. Not to mention that Caleb was beside her, looking just as uncomfortable in his starched pants and shirt as she felt in the super shiny weird dress her mother had bought. He looked good though, despite the fact that she'd tried not to notice. She'd failed. Although she had forced herself to stop glancing over at the way his arms pressed against the fabric of his shirt –

God, she almost rolled her eyes at herself. All that crap Irma had been telling her was finally getting into her head.

Apparently Cedric was planning to kidnap Cornelia, which is why she had a guitar case with a sword in it strapped to her side, rather than a cute clutch. It was really going to be a peachy night. It would be topped off by figuring out how to get two hundred teenagers out of the school before the giant evil snake attacked and stole a member of the Homecoming court and possibly ate everyone else.

"All right, you go tell Cornelia that Cedric is after her and to watch out."

She knew Caleb hated listening to her, so Will expected the rebuttal even before she heard it. "I have to secure the exits, why don't you tell her."

"Because she hates me, duh. I'll secure the exits."

Caleb almost laughed. "You shall not, you cannot even see over the tops of the doors."

"Shut up Caleb. Why don't you just do everything then?" She didn't like how everyone was looking at them, probably wondering who her date was, what she was hissing at him and why he didn't look like a homeless troll like her. "I'm going on the roof to be a look-out. I'll tell you when he's coming."

She ran up the fire-escape built into the side of the gym before he could offer any resistance. She just had to get out of that stupid room with that stupid generic summer pop on the speakers running her nerves to bits. How could Cedric attack now? What if he took Cornelia too? That'd be all her fault if she couldn't stop him. Just like Elyon and her mother. Just like how she couldn't save Lydia or anyone else...

_'Heavy is the head that wears the crown.'_ A voice cooed in her ears and Will rolled her eyes. "Dammit, Nerissa, go away."

To her surprise the voice replied,_ 'I was only trying to help.' _

Up on the roof was freezing. The half empty branches of trees waved maliciously at her while trying to snatch the stars from the sky. No Cedric.

All right, she'd bite. "How can you help me?" She was alone on the outside of the building. Perched on the roof like a little red bird with a shiny collar. If Cedric was coming, she'd see him. Unless... he came from the inside. Will clicked her tongue – she really couldn't win this.

_'I can tell you that you and I are very similar and that the sooner you realise that, the easier everything will be.'_

"I'm nothing like you." But Will's blood had run cold at the mere mention of the possibility.

'_I know I've been vilified over time but it doesn't have to be an insult child. I was quite popular in my time.'_

"How come you can talk to me?"

She refused to answer. Instead, she muttered, '_the only difference is that I hit my guardians much, much harder.'_

And then the voice was gone. Now, there was nothing more than the November breeze laughing in her ears and the heat of blood inflaming her veins.

* * *

**Author:** I'm back. I actually wrote this a while ago and was just adding more because I didn't want to have to split the chapter up. Today I finally realised I'd have to split it so now I'm posting it.

The Phobos saga is almost over, it will finish in M is for Monster. After this we have K is for Kin and L is for Leader. Then it is N is for Nerissa which was probably one of the first chapters I planned. I'm really excited to get out of the Phobos arc because he was just a very important means to an end for my real story. Yay. Part two should be up soon. I've got some fluff written in my little notepad around here, so you WillxCaleb people finally get some love. I decided Caleb should look like Chris Hemsworth aka Thor. Except with brown hair. That man could hit it girls. HIT IT. Anyways reviews are always appreciate. Thanks for all the support so far.


	23. J is for Jealousy Part 2

**La Dolce Vita**

**By Seniya**

**J** is for **Jealousy**

Part Two

_Jealousy is the tie that binds, and binds, and binds._**  
****Helen Rowland**

* * *

Caleb was having a difficult time trying to impress the seriousness of the situation upon the guardians. The first problem was that Will had disappeared to the top of the roof, and seemed to be in a foul manner to begin with. Then, when he finally managed to get Cornelia and Irma alone (another hardship, given the needy nature of their male companions), Cornelia expressed that she was quite elated about being kidnapped. Irma supported her one hundred percent.

"Your logic is flawed to the extreme, Cornelia. We cannot let him take you." Caleb said, still taken aback by the suggestion the girl had just made. Earth females were truly the strangest creatures he'd ever encountered.

They had managed to slip out of the noise and lights in the auditorium into a deserted hallway crowded with metal lockers. Still, Caleb wasn't sure that he'd heard her right.

"I mean it Caleb," Cornelia, crossed her arms and pouted, a face he'd come to recognise as a precursor to her getting her way. "I'm gonna let him take me. If I'm in the castle, I can talk to Elyon and then we can get her out."

"Who said blondes were dumb?" Irma grinned, "Seriously, best plan ever."

"No!" Caleb wanted to shake her, to push logic into her stubborn yellow head. "There is no promise that he will bring you to Elyon. He may take you and kill you in order to frighten her, he may use you as a pawn to ensure that she does his bidding. We do not know why he has taken her – the exact reason for the capture of his sister after all these years."

"Or, he could let me stay with her and then we can escape. I am the most powerful guardian. You don't know what I'm capable of." Her hands were on her hips now. The way her head moved reminded Caleb of an angry garden hen.

Irma, however, seemed moved by Caleb's argument. She had mostly been jesting in the beginning it seemed. He still had difficulty understanding the "sarcasm" language, of which Irma was fluent. "Actually, Cornflake – maybe you shouldn't. We don't want you to get killed. I mean, where'd we find another blonde bitch to replace you so late in the year?" She tried to smile, "and what if he figures out you're a guardian? That probably won't end well."

"I don't care." Cornelia flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked away. "I'm not going to stop him if he wants to take me."

* * *

Caleb could feel the beginnings of a headache by the time he finally found the time to go talk to Will on the roof. Irma had given him much less trouble than Cornelia. She'd even suggested that she set off a contraption called the "fire alarm" and a water system in the ceiling to clear out the students. Cornelia however, remained dead set against being rescued.

Up on the roof was freezing, although he blamed the way his skin shuddered on the inadequacy of the Earth-fabrics. His dragon skinned coat would have kept him much warmer.

Will was the only person on the roof, of course. She was hunched over a railing on one side, with the sword propped up next to her – leaving the entire right side unattended. Caleb felt his annoyance grow, but tried to reign it in since he really could not handle another moody guardian on this night. "You should stand in the middle." She startled a little when she heard his voice, which annoyed him even more now he realised how easily someone could have attacked her. "That way, you can see all around you."

"Oh." She mumbled, but settled back into her original position, completely ignoring his advice.

A few moments passed before she spoke again, "the sword can kinda pick up portals. I haven't perfected it yet, but I can at least tell when one opens if it's next to me."

Caleb nodded. He hadn't known that. Will wasn't known for her communication skills. "Cornelia wants Cedric to take her."

That got her attention. She stood up ramrod straight and frowned. "What?"

"She believes that she can rescue Elyon if she's inside the castle."

Will shook her head, "no, that's stupid. He could kill her. She can't take on Phobos or Cedric by herself." She stuck her lip between her teeth, chewing it mercilessly. "I'll handle it. There's no stopping Cornelia when she gets an idea in her head."

Then she was back at her post, watching the near deserted streets below them with the same disinterest that she regarded everything. Caleb looked at her for a while, as if that could help him to infiltrate the thoughts in the sanctuary of her mind.

She looked different tonight, he noticed. More … adult. Almost like how she did was she was transformed, except darker because of the smoky colours around her eyes. She was beautiful, he thought, but didn't dare tell her because of the reaction he knew such a confession would garner. Will wasn't like other girls who basked and preened in compliments. He didn't know how to get through to her – if that was in fact what he wanted to do.

Caleb stared a moment longer at the way the dull starlight danced off the curls in her hair. He found he was mesmerised by the way her neck sloped softly downwards and curved into freckled shoulders.

He realised then, after a half a minute of staring, that Will had done it. She'd somehow managed to accomplish just what he'd sworn she wouldn't. She'd crawled under his skin and settled there. Damn.

"Are you cold?" He almost cringed at how stupid he sounded. It was made worse when Will, still frowning, looked up at him and scoffed, "no."

She was lying. Caleb could see the goosebumps on her exposed shoulders and back. He watched as tangible puffs of breath appeared and disappeared at her nose, and the way she clenched her jaw to stop it from trembling. Before he fully realised what he was doing, he'd pulled off the stupid, flimsy jacket that HayLin had given him, and draped it about her shoulders.

All at once, she was surrounded by his smell, although it was significantly overwhelmed by the stronger perfume of mothballs and HayLin's attic. "Caleb … take your jacket back."

"But you are cold."

"I'm not cold." She had already pulled it off and shoved it back into his chest. "Take it."

"Why are you .."

"Caleb, seriously, I need to concentrate on watching out for Cedric." She seemed annoyed again, but he could see how her cheeks had reddened, and he somehow knew her heart was racing.

"You don't always need to be this way, Will."

"What way?" She snapped, trying to regain control of her feelings.

"So strong. All of the time."

"Tough luck for you." Will did meet his gaze then, "because I am strong. All of the time."

He was about to reply, he could feel another one of their arguments approaching but the moment was interrupted when the Blade of Kandrakar made a loud noise as it fell onto the concrete roof. Will ran towards her weapon, and caught it just as it began to shake on the ground, as though it were being pulled by an invisible string. "A portal opened. That's probably Cedric."

Caleb nodded, "I'll go tell Irma to get the others out."

* * *

There were more than a few complaints from the high schoolers when the fire alarms came on and the auditorium was suddenly drenched in water from the sprinkler system in the roof. Still, it took a little more than five minutes for the place to clear out completely and then another three minutes for Irma and Cornelia to convince their dates they were traumatised and going home early.

Then, there was the waiting.

It was a good fifteen minutes before Irma finally muttered just what was on everyone's minds. "Hell, I don't think he's coming." Her voice echoed a couple times off the empty auditorium walls. Now, the entire place was soaked, including the food, the chairs and (sadly) the sound system.

"It can't be easy for him to walk through town like a giant snake." Will shrugged. "I definitely know a portal opened up though."

"Maybe he changed his mind and he don't want Corny no more."

"We gotta give him at least another half an hour." Will replied.

"What if he wants to kidnap her tonight, when she's asleep." Irma sounded almost optimistic.

"You all can stop talking about me like I'm not right behind you." She really meant Irma, because she still wasn't talking to Will. One did not forgive the messing up of your face in a few hours. "We'll wait it out." The blonde said, "then I'm going home. I've got better things to do that stand –"

"Wait, did you hear that?" Caleb interrupted the conversation. His face was creased as though he was concentrating on something – although, none of the others could place it. "I don't hear anything." Irma said finally, but as soon as she closed her mouth, the auditorium doors were pulled apart, and Cedric, incredibly tall, green and scaly, slithered in.

Immediately, Will turned towards Cornelia and knocked her in the back of her head with the hilt of her sword. The blonde swayed for an instant before collapsing on the floor. "Damn, Will, twice in one day." Will ignored Irma's commentary and instead told Caleb, "get her out of here, we'll get rid of him."

Caleb opened his mouth to protest, but Will had already transformed herself and Irma and the first barrage of ice-water was already headed towards the snake – so for once, he did as he was told, and hoisted Cornelia onto his shoulder and hurried them along the school's empty corridors.

* * *

Back inside, Cedric was not so easily moved. The first couple of water attacks did little more than annoy him and then when Will zapped him a couple times he became even more irate. "I need more water!" Irma finally decided.

Will definitely agreed. "Can we bust open the sprinklers some more?"

Irma shrugged, "I ain't no plumber."

Will shook her head and aimed her sword at ceiling. She concentrated and sent a short burst of energy towards the sky, knocking a hole in the roof and breaking open some of the pipes. It worked ... in a way. In addition to more water, the was also more concrete, which hit Cedric on the head. He'd had definitely been through enough at that point.

He slithered along the wet floor as best as he could, but it was slippery and he often had to stop to regain his balance when he went too fast. Sensing their advantage, Irma and Will led him around in erratic patterns until he finally threw himself in their direction. They managed to hit the floor in time to avoid a direct collision, but the wall behind them shook a great deal, and a few more pieces of concrete were loosened from the ceiling.

"God, it ain't worth it to save Cornelia!" Irma mumbled, she'd landed on her stomach pretty hard and was now completely winded.

"Come on," Will was feeling pretty awful as well, "we've almost got him."

"No, no we don't." Irma rolled onto her back and groaned. Across from them, Cedric was also swaying slightly, although he seemed to have regained his senses infinitely faster. Will was dizzy and her blood was pounded a terrible rhythm in her ears. She really wanted to stay on that floor forever, but still pushed herself upright, using her sword as a prop. It really wasn't clear in her mind exactly where she'd summon enough energy from to hit Cedric with anything stronger than a small zap – but she would have to try.

Cedric howled a curse in a language Will didn't understand. Comprehension was irrelevant, his voice was so inhuman, it was terrifying regardless. "Please work," It took a large amount of effort for Will to grip her sword with both hands and aim it a Cedric, who even now was crawling towards with with murder written in his yellow eyes.

"_Remember what I told you, take the energy from around you. Not from within."_

There wasn't time to wonder how Nerissa could still be talking to her. Really, it wasn't as though she wanted to ask, since the sound of the startlingly calm voice was almost like a lighthouse to a ship lost in the storm.

"Where? There's nothing to get energy from."

"_Take it from him."_

Will barely had time to process the concept before Cedric was on her, right in her face, with his humongous arms wrapped around her waist. She tried to scream, but the noise wouldn't come. His hot breath burned her cheeks while he squeezed the air from out of her lungs. It took every bit of strength from within her to latch on to his scaly fingers. Will wasn't certain what she was looking for – but there was something there. She was immediately in tune with the warmth that flowed on the inside of the beast's body. She could feel every synapse as it jolted to life with each passing second. Those were like sirens, calling to her. Will heeded the call – burning when it answered her and started to crawl into her own body.

"_That's it." _

It was the single most exhilarating feeling she'd ever had in her life. She felt so – alive. Every muscle and bone in her body was suddenly awake, rattling and shaking because it felt so full. She could run to the moon and back if she felt like it – and still she took more.

"_Take it. It's yours."_

Will held onto Cedric's hands until his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his fingers loosened from around her waist. He wasn't breathing, she could tell, but his heart was still beating slowly. Will was shaking, she'd taken too much, she realised and all that energy inside of her was now struggling to get out.

"Will?" Irma, now upright, watched her wandering around the floor with wide eyes. She walked towards her with her arms outstretched, but didn't come too close, as though she was unsure of what to do. "Don't ..." Her voice didn't seem like it was hers, but Will had to warn Irma off. "Don't touch me!"

Her hair floated about her face like a static induced red halo. There was a low hissing sound that leapt from her skin every few seconds, when the drops of water from the still leaking roof touched her – but Will couldn't stop that.

"I-I have to get rid of this," Will told Irma. Her heart was racing so fast, much too fast. This would kill her. Was that Nerissa's plan all along?

"_No child, let it go."_

She did. She pointed her hand towards an undisturbed wall and pushed the energy out of her body. The force of the impact left a massive hole in the wall, that was blackened about the edges. The energy had also gotten some trees outside, those, Will could see, were now on fire.

Now, Irma came forward and pressed gentle hands on her face. "Hey, hey, are you okay? You're freezing!"

Her skin was like ice and she was trembling. Will felt sick and drained, she wanted to curl up and let her body sort itself right out. "Get … my sword, I've got to send him back."

Irma looked hesitant to leave, but even she could understand what would happen if her dad found a giant snake knocked out in the school's auditorium.

"I'm here!" The overly cheerful voice could only belong to one person. True to form, HayLin popped in through the new hole in the wall. "Aww, shucks, did I miss everything?" She stomped her feet a little in frustration. "Will are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine." Irma returned right then with the sword in her hands. Will hadn't noticed before, but she was pretty scratched up.

Somehow, she managed to get a portal open to Meridian. HayLin transformed and essentially blew, kicked and rolled Cedric back home with a giant gust of wind and her overeager arms and legs. Then, when they heard the first sirens, and the guardian of air took her red headed friend into her arms and flew her out of the wrecked school auditorium, while Irma did her best to limp her way back to the Silver Dragon.

* * *

"Thanks for the lift, HayLin." Will mumbled once she was settled on her mother's porch. "I owe you one."

"You don't owe me." HayLin said, and then mustered up some courage and blurted out, "what happened Will?" Will, still dizzy and sick, transformed back into her human form and frowned. "I forgot my guitar case on the roof. That's probably gone now."

"Will?"

"I've got a headache HayLin. But I'll … um, tell you tomorrow. I promise." The little Asian girl looked unconvinced, but didn't question it any more. "All right. Tomorrow then."

She stayed a little while longer and watched Will stumble into her house before she turned around and went home.

* * *

Susan was already asleep on the sofa with the television blinking mutely in front of her when Will walked in. That was just fine by Will, who wanted nothing more than a long night's sleep. As she prepared to walk upstairs, a letter, crumpled up on the floor next to the phone in the entry way caught her attention. It was strange really, because for all her flaws, her mother didn't leave paper lying around.

Will bent and picked it up. It had been sent to Susan by her dad's parole officer in Austin. There were a lot of formalities, but what it essentially said was that her father had been released from Bastrop Correctional Institution in Texas sometime last month. He'd been released early because he was a first time offender and there were some overcrowding issues. Blah, blah, blah.

The next paragraph urged her mother to call the parole officer as soon as possible, to discuss the custody of their child/ward, "Wilhelmina Chanel Vandom". It ended there, but Will knew exactly what that meant. It was a simple fact that explained the expensive dress and the fancy make up.

Her father wasn't coming back for her.

* * *

**Author:** Woot woot! Another chapter! Pretty pleased with myself! Thanks for the support so far guys. I've really appreciated every kind word. Next is K is for Kin. Aww, Phobos saga is almost up. Tell me how you feel about the Will and Caleb thing, not you CxC shippers, should I do more romance or less, I'm curious how you guys feel about that.

Anyway, thanks again! Reviews are always welcomed.


	24. K is for Kin

**La Dolce Vita**

**By Seniya**

**K** is for **K**in

_Some friends play at friendship, but a true friend sticks closer than one's nearest kin. _

_Proverbs 18:24_

* * *

Phobos had been cruel to a fault when Cedric returned without the Earth girl. He had screamed until he made himself sick, but before the apothecary could take him away, he'd whipped Cedric's back until it had split open, red and yielding – only then was he satisfied.

"Do you realise," he had screamed, as the blood tainted his lips ruby red and the medicines decayed his breath, "that I am a desperate man, Cedric?"

He wanted to speak up, to defend himself, but as his master had not commanded him to speak – he could not. "I am dying!" Phobos spat, and for the first time the hurt of that statement permeated his face and words, "dying! And she –" he pointed towards the west wing, where his sister was kept, "her blood, is the only thing that can save me!"

He knew! Really, was he not the one who had brought him countless girls for months so that he could experiment? Had he not brought him his sister? Cedric tried to shift, but his back stung, these wounds would take weeks to heal – not to mention the damage done to his body by the blasted guardians. He was in pain, dammit –

"Surely, you must know that if I die, you will die."

He knew.

"Answer me Cedric!"

"Yes, master."

There was silence then. Phobos' rage seemed to have dissipated slightly, either that or the drugs had finally taken effect. "I trust then, that you will not disobey me again."

Phobos turned and hurried towards his chambers – it would be a difficult night for his illness. He was already growing weaker with every passing day, and the emotional exertion had not helped in the least. Phobos had not heard it, indeed, it was just the smallest of whispers hissed with the slightest breath through nearly sealed lips. "No, master."

* * *

Will's week was already off to a God-awful start. Mondays weren't known for their ability to spread good cheer in the first place but since hers started off with a more than awkward meeting with Principal Knickerbocker, Cornelia and Cornelia's mom. Really, it seemed likely like the whole week was shot to shit.

Will had been suspended for a week because of the fight, not that it mattered since the "mysterious fire" at the school's auditorium meant that school was cancelled for the week. Several civil engineers had been brought in by the Mayor from Raleigh to figure out just what had started the fire that blew a giant hole in the side of the school wall and bent the pipes in the ceiling. Two days later and they still were stumped.

This morning's meeting had brought a great deal of yelling from Mrs. Hale, who'd demanded that Will be expelled. Susan hadn't bothered to respond – she'd never been to a PTA meeting, much less a meeting with the principal. It was likely that Susan was just out of sorts.

Cornelia hadn't looked at Will, and she had only replied in a short, clipped tone when Mrs. Knickerbocker asked her questions directly. The meeting lasted a full hour more than it had been scheduled to, and when Will finally escaped, it was almost a relief to get to the Silver Dragon.

Almost.

"Will, it's time we had a talk."

Down in the basement, it was a damn ambush. Yan Lin was to the front, flanked by Hay Lin and Irma, who both had their arms folded across their chests as though this was the damn Mafia. Will rolled her eyes, "really? Did the health inspector find spores again?"

"What do you know about spores? That was not mould, it was shiitake!" The older Lin hissed, but soon recognised the change in conversation for what it was: a distraction. "Never mind that! Since when can you absorb energy? And what does Irma mean when she says you were talking to yourself?"

Will shrugged and tried to move across the tiny room that forever reeked of sulphur even weeks after spells had been cast. "Why don't you ask Irma? Since she likes to talk so damn much."

"Dammit Will! Are you still hearing Nerissa?"

Will frowned, she hadn't wanted the others to know about her ongoing problems with Nerissa. It was hard to listen to someone who heard voices. Especially when those voices belonged to convicted murderers. "It is not an ongoing thing." Will lied, "I heard her on Friday during the battle."

"What did she say?" Hay Lin asked, while Irma looked sheepish.

"She told me I could absorb Cedric's energy. She … told me how to do it."

"And you _listened_ to her?"

"Well _duh_, Yan Lin, since the giant snake was trying to eat me at the time!"

Yan Lin raised both her hands into the air and mumbled something about her blood pressure. The thought of her possible collapse frightened no one, it'd take at least a dozen strokes to do any damage to that old tanker. "Hay Lin said you almost died."

"Hay Lin exaggerates."

"Nuh uh Nana, she was really messed up. She couldn't even stand after. I had to take her home."

"I have a confession!" Irma blurted out. Three pairs of eyes finally landed on the brunette, who looked positively green and sweaty. "I … also kinda did something I wasn't supposed to. Not as bad as Will … but ..."

"Spit it out!" Yan Lin snapped.

"I tried to do a spell so I could talk to my mom on Halloween." Yan Lin placed her face in her hands but Irma didn't stop talking, "it worked. Well, I dunno, I know you said that whatever I saw wasn't my mom, but it looked like her and it spoke to me."

"The demon spoke?" Yan Lin narrowed her eyes. "What did it say to you?"

"It told me … danger, Nerissa."

There was silence then. Will felt an ice cold shiver slip down her back.

"Why didn't you tell me this before!"

"I told Hay Lin!" The Asian teen squeaked in outrage, but didn't defend herself. "And we thought Will had stopped hearing her – so I figured it didn't matter."

"Dammit." for a second, Yan Lin looked just as old as she birth certificate said she was. She sat on a wooden stool in her basement, staring blankly at the jars on the wall before she could speak, minutes after. "You girls go train or something. I have to think."

No one argued.

* * *

The three had another fight upstairs as they debated whether or not to tell Cornelia about training. Naturally, Will and Irma were quite content to let the blonde go about her business, but Hay Lin, poor soft hearted Hay Lin, was adamant that the earth guardian should come along.

They made her call, and to everyone's surprise, she agreed to come along.

"Probably wants to see Caleb." Irma muttered, "Hay Lin told me she was falling all over him on Friday night."

"No shit, we knocked her out remember." But the thought had already turned Will's stomach.

"You knocked her out. I watched." Irma argued, and then lowered her voice as she warned,"She's gonna be pissed."

"She's always pissed."

Cornelia arrived, almost on time, dressed in an immaculate red coat and matching beret. She didn't seem upset, merely cold, which was (honestly) a step up from her consistent complaints and suggestions. To Will, this was too suspicious.

"You're not planning to run away and fight Phobos by yourself are you?"

"No."

Will didn't believe her. "You're not planning to knock me out again, are you?" The sweet, cold sarcasm jolted Will out of thoughts on that exact topic.

"Nope." The redhead said, but was certain that Cornelia didn't trust her either.

* * *

Yan Lin had bitten the bullet, swallowed her pride and shelved her disdain long enough to walk over to the Cook house in the bitter November wind. Taranee, notably upset by her presence, had listened to everything she'd said and promised to help (even if it was just to get her to leave). Ideally, it would have been best to speak with Halinor herself.

Perhaps the old bitch wasn't so far up the Oracle's ass to remember just how terrible Nerissa had been. Yan Lin felt helpless, and that sensation was made worse by a feeling of foreboding that she simply could not escape.

_She says she's pregnant. I'm a nurse, I can help her." Cassidy's bright brown eyes were crinkled with worry, she pushed a few stray auburn curls behind her ear and bit her lip. She'd come to the Lin's restaurant for advice – and because she'd wanted someone to talk to. _

"_Cassidy – don't go to her, you know she can't be trusted." Yan Lin looked up from the pile of dirty dishes and wiped her hands on the plaid apron tied about her waist. _

"_I know but … oh gosh Yan, if she is pregnant … how's she gonna support that kid? I doubt she even knows who the Daddy is."That was the problem with Cassidy. She worried too much. Cared too much._

"_If she had the sense to spread her legs for him, she shouldda had the sense to ask his name," her friend replied. Yan Lin had kept her tone light, but in truth she was terrified of the prospect that Nerissa had returned. She was supposed to have gone to Fadden Hills. Why was she back?_

"_Yan Lin … don't be like that."_

"_Cassidy, I ain't messing around. Don't go to Nerissa."_

_ It wasn't until she'd received the news that Cassidy had been hacked to death that she realised her friend hadn't listened._

* * *

Caleb had not met with the girls when they arrived in Meridian – a first for him, since he was seemingly always ready to chastise Will on how late they were. Instead, Aldarn, Caleb's friend with thick green skin, greeted them after they emerged from the portal.

"I saw you on my way to the hideout." He offered them a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, "Caleb is in a meeting. I don't think he'll have time to play with you on this day."

"Play?" Irma sounded offended, but really, none of them were particularly affected by the jab. The guardians who couldn't fight properly and who were still not ready to defeat the tyrant king, were not very popular among the rebels.

"It's ok Aldarn," Will hated playing diplomat. It wasn't a natural role for her to fall into. "We can just train outside, by ourselves."

"Who's he meeting with?" Cornelia asked, and to their surprise, Aldarn actually replied. "Our spies have returned from the North. Finally, Caleb plans to lead us into battle."

"What?" There were four voices asking that particular question.

"We plan to attack Phobos in less than a fortnight." Now, when Aldarn smiled, there was a genuine glimmer of happiness in his bright gold eyes.

"But I thought Caleb said the rebels weren't ready." Hay Lin's voice sounded frightened. It wasn't just Caleb's opinion. It was a fact. They weren't ready. They didn't have enough weapons – enough soldiers … What was Caleb thinking?

"We've always been ready lass. Caleb has just been holding us back with his fretting. He sees sense now. We will strike upon the next moon cycle."

* * *

Tonight, Elyon waited with her back to the moonscape for her brother. Her eyes, already wide and baby blue, were large and fixed on the heavy wooden door. The minutes dragged on, endlessly it seemed – had anything ever taken so long?

And then he was there, pushing open the heavy door while dressed in his immaculate white robes. Her eyes darted upward to his shoulders and then her stomach sank. If she were being honest with herself, she'd have to admit that it was her friend she'd been most hoping to see.

"B-Brother … w-where ..."

"Hush," He crossed the room quickly and then gathered her into his arms. She felt the awkward protrusion of his stubborn bones against her face as he pressed his chest against her. "She refused to come, my child."

"W-What … w-why … d-did ..." Her stutter had become so bad that speech was now impossible.

"She said she did not care to come, despite how much you wished to see her."

"T-That … N-No, Cornelia wouldn't … I-I should go t-to h-her. S-She'll come i-if she s-s-sees me."

"I assure you Princess, my men did everything in their power to persuade her. She had another engagement … a ball of sorts."

"H-Homecoming." Elyon mumbled, and her heart fell. She knew that her and Cornelia's friendship was not what it once was, but still, would she deny her friend a visit?

"Perhaps she is jealous of your crown. Earth people are very fickle."

Elyon nodded, tears already stinging her eyes. "I … I w-want t-to be a-alone brother. T-Thank you."

Quietly, Phobos bowed and left.

That night Elyon hardly slept. She stared at the unfaltering twin moons in her large canopy bed for hours, dealing with the sting of her broken heart.

* * *

The Guardians won no favour with the rebels when they barged in on the council's meeting. Many of the elders, all men, actually swore when they saw the four girls trampling in on scared territory. It was Caleb's room, although the rebel's location had changed his Spartan sense of style had not.

"What do you mean you're attacking Phobos?" Irma started, her hands were on her hips and with her over-endowed figure, she did favour a clucking mother hen. "You can't, you'll get yourself killed."

Caleb, who was seated on the floor around a table with the other men, got to his feet slowly while rubbing his eyes with his fingers. He was undoubtedly upset that they'd barged in here. He frowned at Will as though that were her fault, but when he spoke, it was with a resigned calm. "Who told you this?"

"Aldarn," Irma snapped and then launched into another rant about how Caleb would be killed. Cornelia was strangely quiet, and Hay Lin looked frightened, Will was thoughtful.

"It is amazing that Aldarn lasted so long as a spy." One of the men at the table chuckled, "when he cannot keep his blasted mouth shut." The others joined in a chorus of tight laughter.

"This is not your decision to make." Caleb explained in a low voice. "I do not meddle in your guardian affairs."

"That's not true." Will said, staring right into his green eyes, "you're always telling us –"

"The point is. This is my decision to make. I have already made it. Now, leave. You have offended the council by coming in here uninvited."

He stared at them, waiting for them to slink away, but Earth girls (he'd noticed) were hard headed. "Do you have enough swords?" Will asked, feigning nonchalance.

"They don't," Hay Lin shook her head, her lips trembled. "Most of your rebels are just little children! They can't – Cedric will kill them!"

"Silly women!" The conversation was interrupted when one of the bulkier green skinned men got to his feet.

"Valthek, stay your temper. They are not familiar with our customs." Caleb stated.

"This is no place for girls. What do women know of battle? Let them leave Caleb, or are you so soft that even women can trod all over you."

Irma moved as though she wanted to slap the man, but Will held her back. Frowning, and with two other outraged guardians on her heels, she left Caleb's room. Cornelia, still silent, followed with her arms folded across her chest.

* * *

"I can't believe this!" Irma ranted when they were herded outside onto the grassy plains behind the rebel's towering wooden hideaway. The gigantic walls around the structure had finally been completed and covered with moss, so that the entire structure looked like a misshapen mountain unless you were very close. "We have to help!" Hay Lin agreed, "they'll die without us."

"I think the other rebels are pushing Caleb into this. He ain't so dumb as to go after Cedric when he doesn't even have a real army." Irma had started pacing.

"Well, at least he's doing something." Cornelia mumbled, but in the quiet of the night, her voice was like a gunshot. "We're just standing still, watching Meridian fall apart."

The others studied her for a moment. Finally, Hay Lin asked Will in a steady voice. "What are we gonna do?"

For the first time, three pairs of eyes watched her for an answer. Will realised, with a shock, that they'd listen to her. They'd follow her if she asked them to. "We aren't gonna let the rebels get themselves killed."

Cornelia rolled her eyes, but remained quiet.

"We'll attack Phobos first, before they can. Caleb must be planning the attack now because he knows they at least have a chance. If they stand a chance then there's no doubt in my mind that we can beat him."

That was not entirely true, but Will had learned that bravado was your best friend when in charge.

"Are you sure?" Irma asked.

"We'll have to train a little harder these next few days – but yeah – I mean, we're the guardians. This is our job." Will swallowed, her throat was dry.

"What about … you know ..." Hay Lin pointed towards the sky. Will caught the meaning. Nerissa.

"I'm fine. I mean, it's not like she's controlling my body or anything. I can handle her. Seriously."

It was (surprisingly) Cornelia who finally lightened the mood. "I'm glad we've finally grown some balls! Who wants to spar with me?"

"I'll come Corndog," Irma groaned, "I'm used to your tricks."

"We can't tell Caleb about this guys." Hay Lin warned. "He won't like this."

"Duh." Cornelia grinned, "besides, I'd never send a man to do a woman's job."

* * *

It was early in the morning when Halinor finally responded to Taranee's call. Taranee was used to the arbitrary communication. She'd figured it was either a time difference or scheduling thing – or the former Fire Guardian just didn't really give a shit about Taranee's concerns.

"What is it?" The first dozen times Halinor had appeared at the foot of her bed in the middle of the night, had scared the living daylights out of Taranee. She was so white, so pale and perfect, she looked like a phantom.

Now, although her heart raced from the apparition, it wasn't really from fear. Taranee sat up in her bed, replaced her glasses and explained, "Yan Lin says that Nerissa is still talking to Will."

"Will?" The perfect brow dented.

"The wielder of the blade."

"Ah, yes. I assumed she'd continue to make contact."

"So you knew?" Taranee made sure to whisper, her father often spent long nights huddled over cases in his study. She didn't want him thinking she was schizophrenic.

"Yes, we knew. To be frank, it would help our plans quite a bit if Nerissa could persuade the girl, so I limited my interactions."

"Nerissa won't hurt her?"

Halinor shrugged. "She wants the sword, as usual. She is trapped in Mount Thanos however, so actual physical harm would be nearly impossible."

"Then how can she persuade Will?"

"Well," Halinor sighed, "if she manages to get the girl to try to rescue her, that would be a sin against Kandrakar and we could take the blade away. If she drives her insane, again, we could take the blade away." The blonde actually chuckled, "it's funny. It has been years since I last considered Nerissa an ally."

Taranee bit her lip. "I don't like this Halinor. You said Nerissa killed before – I think she could still hurt Will."

"It is exactly because she killed that we have to do this!" Halinor's voice rose just slightly, indicating that she was upset. "Do not question the motives of the Oracle, Taranee! You were hand picked by him to carry that sword. Trust that he knows what he is doing!"

"I d-do … I just," Taranee, moved from under her covers. She felt fidgety, uncomfortable. "I don't want Will to get hurt."

Halinor nodded, the apparition shifted slightly and then, "Nerissa won't hurt the girl. She must know by now what we've discovered as well."

"What's that?"

"They're blood. Nerissa is her great-grandmother. Even that mad-woman wouldn't kill her own descendant."

* * *

**Author: ****BAM! **Now, pick your jaws up off the floor. I was considering if to make Nerissa and Will related, I didn't want to be too cliché and it felt cliché. However, it kinda helps my later plans and explains perfectly why Susan is lingering around Heatherfield instead of being in LA or New York. However, this does not explain why Nerissa is helping Will. Hehehehehe.

That conversation up there in italics is Cassidy and Yan Lin. Hope that was clear.

Now, we're into finale mode. Big battle, evil King et cetera. Poor Will, who forever wants to be the saviour is in real trouble here. Reviews are welcome! Next is L is for Leader.


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